Cleaning Up Cooling Down
Refrigerant Management and Alternative Refrigerants
"Emissions from refrigerants can be reduced in five main ways:
- lower the demand for appliances
- replace refrigerants with substances with lower global warming impact
- increase the refrigeration efficiency of appliances to control leakage of refrigerants from appliances
- recover, reclaim, recycle, and...
- destroy refrigerants at the end of their useful life." FROM - drawdown.org/solutions/alternative-refrigerants
Here are quotes from Project Drawdown on 2 top climate solutions: refrigerant management and alternative refrigerants>>>
Refrigerant Management
"Fluorinated gases, which are widely used as refrigerants, have a potent greenhouse effect. Managing leaks and disposal of these chemicals can avoid emissions in buildings and landfills.
Practices to avoid leaks from refrigerants and destroy refrigerants at end of life can substantially reduce emissions, both before and after the adoption of alternatives to hydrofluorocarbon refrigerants. Over 30 years, preventing 100 percent of refrigerant leaks that otherwise would be released can avoid emissions equivalent to 57.15 gigatons of carbon dioxide. Although some revenue can be generated from resale of recovered refrigerant gases, the costs to establish and operate recovery, destruction, and leak avoidance systems outweigh the financial benefit—meaning that refrigerant management, as modeled, would incur a net lifetime cost of US$622.73 billion." FROM - drawdown.org/solutions/refrigerant-management
Alternative Refrigerants
"Fluorinated gas refrigerants are powerful greenhouse gases. Alternatives, such as ammonia or captured carbon dioxide, can replace them over time.
"The replacement of hydrofluorocarbon (HFC) refrigerants with a mix of alternatives can reduce emissions by 42.73–48.75 gigatons of carbon dioxide equivalent from 2020 to 2050. Current and emerging refrigerants and appliances (including ammonia, carbon dioxide, and propane) can replace between 67 and 82 percent of HFC refrigerants by 2050.
[Low global warming potential (GWP) replacements for conventional HFCs include:]
- Commercially available natural refrigerants include ammonia, with a GWP of near zero; hydrocarbons (e.g., propane and isobutene), with GWPs of less than 4; and carbon dioxide, with a GWP of 1.
- [Alternative] commercially available fluorinated substances [with low GWP].
- Other alternatives, such as district cooling, [that] do not involve refrigerants." FROM - drawdown.org/solutions/alternative-refrigerants
"Fluorinated gases, which are widely used as refrigerants, have a potent greenhouse effect. Managing leaks and disposal of these chemicals can avoid emissions in buildings and landfills.
Practices to avoid leaks from refrigerants and destroy refrigerants at end of life can substantially reduce emissions, both before and after the adoption of alternatives to hydrofluorocarbon refrigerants. Over 30 years, preventing 100 percent of refrigerant leaks that otherwise would be released can avoid emissions equivalent to 57.15 gigatons of carbon dioxide. Although some revenue can be generated from resale of recovered refrigerant gases, the costs to establish and operate recovery, destruction, and leak avoidance systems outweigh the financial benefit—meaning that refrigerant management, as modeled, would incur a net lifetime cost of US$622.73 billion." FROM - drawdown.org/solutions/refrigerant-management
"Fluorinated gas refrigerants are powerful greenhouse gases. Alternatives, such as ammonia or captured carbon dioxide, can replace them over time.
"The replacement of hydrofluorocarbon (HFC) refrigerants with a mix of alternatives can reduce emissions by 42.73–48.75 gigatons of carbon dioxide equivalent from 2020 to 2050. Current and emerging refrigerants and appliances (including ammonia, carbon dioxide, and propane) can replace between 67 and 82 percent of HFC refrigerants by 2050.
[Low global warming potential (GWP) replacements for conventional HFCs include:]
- Commercially available natural refrigerants include ammonia, with a GWP of near zero; hydrocarbons (e.g., propane and isobutene), with GWPs of less than 4; and carbon dioxide, with a GWP of 1.
- [Alternative] commercially available fluorinated substances [with low GWP].
- Other alternatives, such as district cooling, [that] do not involve refrigerants." FROM - drawdown.org/solutions/alternative-refrigerants