The greenhouse effect of HFCs

Nº 27

1) Asia, China

2) Various Locations

  • Climate & Atmosphere
  • Atmospheric Pollution Reduction
  • Substitution of Chemicals
some attempts made
past case
Region-1
Region-2
Region-3
Region-4
ongoing case
no attempts made

Yes

The greenhouse effect of HFCs

1) With the implementation of the Montreal Protocol in 2007, which institutionalised the HCFC phase-out process worldwide, China’s greenhouse gas emissions increased dramatically. Between 2005 and 2010, China’s HFC production tripled to around 180 thousand tonnes. At the same time, China’s CO2 emissions have increased by 38% since 2005, reaching 7.03 billion tonnes in 2010.

2) A study conducted in 2015 developed global scenarios if HFC emissions were to continue as they are today (business as usual). The study considered data from 11 different geographical regions (including China, India and the United States). If these scenarios become reality, HFC emissions could reach 4.0e5.3 GtCO2-eq yr-1 and radiative forcing could reach 0.22e0.25 W m-2 in 2050 (a 12-24% increase in projected CO2 emissions from 2015 to 2050).

  • Facilitated the efforts to address the initial problem
  • Cascading (far-reaching effects following each other); Singular (only one effect)

1) Zhang, J., Wang, C. (2014). China’s hydrofluorocarbon challenge. Nature Clim Change 4, 943–945. https://doi.org/10.1038/nclimate2377

2) Guus J.M. Velders, David W. Fahey, John S. Daniel, Stephen O. Andersen, Mack McFarland (2015). Future atmospheric abundances and climate forcings from scenarios of global and regional hydrofluorocarbon (HFC) emissions. Atmospheric Environment, 123, 200-209. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.atmosenv.2015.10.071.

DG for Climate Action. (2020). The EU is successfully cutting harmful HFC greenhouse gases. European Commission. https://climate.ec.europa.eu/news-your-voice/news/eu-successfully-cutting-harmful-hfc-greenhouse-gases-2020-12-18_en

Velders, G. J. M., Fahey, D. W., Daniel, J. S., McFarland, M., & Andersen, S. O. (2009). The large contribution of projected HFC emissions to future climate forcing. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 106(27), 10949–10954. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0902817106

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