The importance of Refrigerants to the Climate.
Refrigerants are gases that are fundamental to our way of living. In our daily lives most of us will interact with equipment or goods that rely on refrigerants. Most of these gases are man-made (i.e. synthetic chemicals produced in factories) and while they perform an important role many refrigerants also have side-effects.
That is why many refrigerants are called super pollutants.
The early generations of refrigerant gases were found to have a negative impact on the Earth’s Ozone layer, and regulations as part of the Montreal Protocol were introduced (successfully) to replace them. Unfortunately, the next generation of refrigerants (what we call HFCs) were found to contribute to climate change and global heating.
While many countries are now phasing out HFC refrigerants they are still incredibly common and this is why we need to focus on them. With millions of tons of refrigerant in circulation today the job at hand is massive.
If these Refrigerant gases are installed inside domestic refrigerators, supermarkets and cars, what’s the issue? Simple - being a gas (often under pressure) they escape during equipment use. Plus there are leaks during production, transport, storage and disposal - in short there are leaks all along the supply chain. And once these gases are in the atmosphere today there are no means of recovering them - trees & plants don’t absorb them unlike with carbon dioxide. We have to wait decades for them to break down in the atmosphere and during this time they cause additional heating of the planet.
There are solutions and alternatives of course. Our expertise means we know how to track refrigerants using the latest technologies along with impartial advice and training.
We want to help people get started on the journey which is why we offer a complimentary discovery call free of charge - you can schedule time with our team via the link below.
Otherwise feel free to dive into our resources and you can find more detailed information in our White Paper here