Chemicals that are slowly escaping from refrigerators and air conditioners are a greater threat to the climate than previously thought.
Hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) are refrigerants that are replacing banned ozone-depleting chemicals. But HFCs are also greenhouse gases, and the amount of these chemicals stored in refrigeration equipment is increasing. Guus Velders at the National Institute for Public Health and the Environment in Bilthoven, the Netherlands, and his colleagues analysed different scenarios for reducing HFCs, either by phasing out production or by destroying HFC-containing equipment.
They found that phasing out production of HFCs early, such as by 2020, would provide the greatest environmental benefit. If the phase-out were to occur later, millions of refrigeration and air-conditioning units would need to be destroyed to achieve the same benefit.
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Climate concerns from refrigerants. Nature 510, 11 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1038/510011c
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/510011c
