Hydrofluorocarbons (HFC), also known as “super greenhouse gases” (they a have global warming potential that is almost 1000 times more than CO2) are widely used for refrigeration and air conditioning. They will be phased out under the latest amendment to the Montreal Protocol. India negotiated aggressively and bought more time to account for the fact that it is a tropical country with a large population that is just starting to afford air-conditioners. AEEE believes that India must adopt aggressive energy efficiency policies to encourage passive and active means to address rapidly rising cooling demand and provide affordable and sustainable thermal comfort to all.
The world came together on the night of 14th October, to curb climate change by amending the Montreal Protocol in Kigali, Rwanda. Nearly 200 countries participated in the 28th Meeting of the Parties to the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer, and amended the Montreal Protocol with legally binding timelines for countries to phase out HFCs. It is estimated that cutting HFCs will reduce carbon dioxide emissions by over 70 billion tons and reduce global warming by 0.5oC – equal to stopping the entire world’s fossil fuel CO2 emissions for more than two years.
The countries have agreed to phase out HFCs in three different timelines –
- USA, the European Union, Japan and a few others have already started reducing their usage of HFCs; developed nations have agreed to freeze HFCs by 2019 and by 2036 reduce by 15% of 2012 levels.
- Brazil, China, Argentina, South Africa and over 100 developing countries have agreed to freeze HFCs by 2024 and by 2045 to reduce it 20% of 2021 levels.
- India, Gulf nations, Pakistan, Iran and Iraq will freeze HFCs in 2028 and by 2047 reduce 15% of 2025 levels. They also have the choice of fast tracking the same.
A warming planet, growing population coupled with rising income and higher aspiration across the globe has resulted in increased penetration of appliances and equipment such as refrigerators, room and packaged air-conditioners, chillers, etc. in both residential and in commercial buildings. There is significant growth of such appliances expected in the world’s fastest growing urban centres – many of which are in tropical climates. Business as usual could have resulted in HFC emissions equivalent to 8.8 gigatonnes of CO2 by 2050. Since the phasing out of CFCs was much faster than the scheduled timeline, it has encouraged nations to push for an ambitious target for phasing out HFCs.
Council on Energy, Environment and Water (CEEW) research points out that “The mitigation potential is high and inexpensive for the residential air-conditioning, industrial refrigeration, and foam sectors due to the availability of less expensive alternatives (HCs, NH3, HFC-152a, etc.) as compared to HFCs. Similarly, commercial air-conditioning, domestic refrigerators, and commercial refrigeration have high mitigation potential and are relatively inexpensive when compared to mobile air conditioning”.
Beginning next year, $80 million will be available for phasing out HFCs through Multilateral Fund for implementation of the Montreal Protocol. Though funding for next three years will only be negotiated in 2017, $27 million has already been allocated by a few developed countries and $53 million has been contributed by a Coalition of Philanthropies for fast tracking financing for next year. In addition to providing financial assistance, they will also provide technology such as energy efficient equipment to developing countries to make the transition to green / low GWP refrigerants.
India played a key role in the negotiations. Recognizing the fact that its growing population is just beginning to afford air conditioners to combat extremely hot weather and to provide adequate timeframe to companies to make the transition to low GWP refrigerants, India negotiated for a later deadline and agreed to stop production and freeze HFCs by 2028. It moved up its timeline – freeze years by three years from 2031 to 2028 and its baseline by four years from 2028-2030 to 2024-2026. India has also committed to immediately destroying HFC-23 (trifloromethane) through incineration, which has a GWP of 14,800. India has issued instructions to the five companies manufacturing HCFC-22, of which HFC-23 is a by-product, to destroy HFC-23 immediately using safe disposal methods to avoid leakages.
Natural Resources Defence Council (NRDC) in their blog, state that, “India’s market is already moving ahead with phasing down HFCs. Market leaders such as Godrej & Boyce, Daikin and a number of other manufacturers are beginning to sell energy efficient and climate friendly air conditioners. Indian air conditioner manufacturers are indicating readiness to leapfrog over outdated technologies by adopting less potent alternatives. Chemical companies are moving ahead too, and leading manufacturers are set to begin domestic production of alternative refrigerants in India for both domestic use and exports as early as 2017”.
However, caution has to be exercised since most replacements are said to be flammable and toxic. The systems need to be redesigned correctly, installed and maintained properly. The technicians need to be trained to do installations properly. According to (CEEW), “there are significant opportunities to reduce HFC consumption and emissions in India if the technical and financial challenges (e.g. flammability and safety, patents, performance in high ambient conditions) to the adoption of alternatives available for various sectors are overcome. The results indicate that more than a third of the mitigation potential is attainable at zero or below zero marginal cost primarily due to inexpensive low-GWP alternatives and energy-efficiency benefits. Tracking energy-efficiency opportunities is in India’s self-interest, and appropriate domestic policies can help achieve and accelerate the transition to low-GWP alternatives. Therefore, adequate domestic policy measures are required to increase incentives and to adopt regulations for more energy-efficient appliances in the phase-out of HCFCs and the phase-down of HFCs”.
Globally, some firms are leading the way in transitioning to green or natural refrigerants. NRDC and The Air-Conditioning, Heating, and Refrigeration Institute (AHRI) reached an agreement in February 2016 setting a joint deadline of 2025 for phasing out high GWP HFC used in building chillers such as R-134a, R-410A, and R-407C. This agreement provides an opportunity to companies to phase out HFCs by identifying suitable environmentally friendly refrigerants and manage transition costs at their own pace within the stipulated time frame. NRDC and AHRI submitted the joint agreement to U.S. Environment Protection Agency (EPA).
The Consumers Goods Forum, a global Industry association with 400 members comprising of CEOs of retail companies, manufacturing companies and service providers in 70 countries, started phasing out HFCs, as of 2015. One of the members, PepsiCo has placed HFC free equipment in 25 countries including India, China, Russia, Brazil and others. Another member – Nestle, committed that by end of 2015 all their Ice Cream Chest freezers will be HFC free and by end of 2014, 92% of their industrial refrigerants were replaced with natural refrigerants. In the light of the Kigali meeting of parties, the Consumer Goods Forum has adopted a new resolution to use natural or ultra-low GWP refrigerants; in countries where barriers exist, they will work with all stakeholders to phase out HFCs as quickly as possible and no later than 2025; they are committed to reducing environmental impacts of their refrigerants, improving energy efficiency and optimizing charge size of refrigerants and minimizing leaks; and they also commit to setting and achieving individual targets and publishing their achievements.
Phasing out HFCs is significant for India too, since the market for air conditioners is projected to grow rapidly due to a largely tropical climate, low penetration of room air-conditioners (less than 10%), and rising income levels. It is being argued that the incremental cost of replacing HFCs with low GWP refrigerants could make air conditioners more expensive and out of reach for India’s lower middle class population. Lawrence Berkeley National Lab (LBNL) research indicates that leapfrogging to more energy-efficient refrigerants, with lower GWP, combined with improved air-conditioner efficiency can result in peak savings of 28-66 GW by 2030, and a reduction of 320 million tonnes of CO2-equivalent GHG per year. A 20%-30% improvement in ISEER (3.5-4.0 W/W) is estimated to result in an increase of ₹4900 to ₹9360 for RACs, but with a relatively short payback period of 2.5 years.
Indian companies will be able to access financing from the Multilateral fund for implementation of Montreal Protocol for meeting incremental costs of transition and receive technology assistance from developed countries for faster adoption of green / low GWP / natural refrigerants in refrigerators and air-conditioners. Learning from multinational companies’ experiences in US, Japan, Europe and elsewhere, Indian companies can avoid adopting obsolete technology and invest in technologies that will make air conditioners energy efficient. Development of safety standards for alternative refrigerants including mildly flammable refrigerants can fast track this transition after the latest amendment to the Montreal Protocol.
The Sustainable and Smart Space Cooling Coalition, formed by AEEE and Shakti Sustainable Energy Foundation with support of twelve leading non-profit organisations and research institutes, lauds India’s commitment to phasing out HFCs which needs to happen while encouraging cost-effective energy-efficient policies to address rising cooling demand. India can start working right away to get the most out of the aggressively negotiated deal for the country by taking a multipronged approach and adopting strong policy directives. With an objective to provide affordable and sustainable thermal comfort solution to all citizens – India needs to embrace policies that promote better building design using passive means to cut down cooling loads, use of adaptive thermal comfort standards to account for higher heat tolerance of people accustomed to tropical climate, enhance the stringency of building energy codes and HVAC equipment and appliances (e.g. room and packaged air-conditioners, chillers, etc.) and fund a strong R&D program to encourage the development and mainstreaming of low-energy cooling technologies. India can stimulate business innovation and market transformation by inviting companies to develop low-energy cooling technologies and smarter controls. Phasing out of HFCs provides an opportunity to Indian companies to innovate and engineer energy-efficient cooling solutions using environmentally friendly refrigerants to meet the rapidly growing demand in the country and to export to international markets.
Montreal Protocol
The Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer is an international treaty designed to protect the ozone layer by phasing out the production of numerous substances that are responsible for ozone depletion. It entered into force on 26 August 1989 and has undergone eight revisions. It has now been ratified by 197 countries and has avoided nearly 135 billion tonnes of CO2 emissions and arrested depletion of ozone layer.
Developed countries had set up a Multilateral Fund in 1991 to aid developing countries to make the transition for phasing out CFCs and HCFCs. Pledges amounting to $3.1 billion over the period 1991 to 2005 have been made, which has been used to finance the conversion of existing manufacturing processes, train personnel, pay royalties and patent rights on new technologies, and establish national ozone offices. The funds for phasing out HFCs will be decided in 2017 and it is estimated that the amount required could be large and developing countries may receive financial assistance for phasing out HFCs ahead of schedule.
This newsletter on HFC phase out under the latest Montreal Protocol amendment was compiled by the AEEE team from a) research and analysis conducted by LBNL, CEEW and NRDC b) articles in The Economist, New York Times, Business Standard, Economic Times, Wikipedia and c) its own research.
