HFCs

Hydrofluorocarbons could be phased out soon

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HydrofluorocarbonsAccording to the White House website : “ the United States and China will work together and with other countries to use the expertise and institutions of the Montreal Protocol to phase down the consumption and production of hydrofluorocarbons “

Now that’s some good news are HFCs are very potent greenhouse gases. As Bloomberg noted : ” HFCs make up about 1 percent of greenhouse gases and may account for more than 20 percent by 2050. ”

As Grist notes, the European Union is also pushing into this direction. This could mean an agreement on HFCs could be reached quite soon.

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Celebrating the 25 years of The Montreal Protocol

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Despite all the gloom and doom of current events, there are reasons to celebrate, and to hope as the Montreal Protocol turned 25. This was at the time – and it still is – a huge success on environmental and climate issues. Indeed, the World Bank noted that ” The Montreal Protocol, by controlling the consumption … Read more

G8 leaders agree to act on climate, air pollution

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Are we finally getting things right on climate change ? Not completely, but what happened last week may be a good omen for the Rio +20 conference. As I noted in a post published yesterday on Cleantechies : ” Further to the Camp David meeting last week, G8 leaders agreed to act on climate change … Read more

Six countries to cooperate on climate

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This is not as good as it should be as carbon dioxide is not tackled, but this new initiative might help us in mitigating climate change in the short to medium term and improves health of million of people.

According to various sources, the United States, China as well as other countries are willing to cut emissions of various short-lived greenhouse gases such as methane, soot (black carbon) and hydroflurocarbons (HFCs)

Of course, the fact that the main greenhouse gas is not included is a major problem, but the fact that the NASA recommendation are being followed is still good news.

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HFCs rising use could accelerate global warming

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To CleanTechies : ” The increased use of hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) in the production of refrigerators, air conditioners, and other products could play a significant role in accelerating global warming “

The United Nations Environmental Program (UNEP) study notes that the projected emissions of HFCs by 2050 could equal nine billion tons of carbon dioxide — or about one-third of current CO2 emissions.

HFCs were introduced in the 1990s to replace chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), which were a threat to  the ozone layer. So, this was a good idea with a strong downside.

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