This question matters because of the HFC Phase Down Process of the European Union. It is spelled out in the EU F-Gas Regulation 517/2014 which has come into effect as of January 1 of this year. A more accessible reference is Information Sheet 28 of Gluckman Consulting.
Anyone dealing with refrigerants from supermarkets to oil refineries will feel the impact. Present-day refrigerants may be safe, ozone-friendly non-toxic, inflammable and energy-efficient, but they have a notoriously high GWP (Global Warming Potential). Two popular refrigerants, R404A and the azeotropic R507A have GWPs of 3922 and 3985, respectively. That means that the release of 1 kg of these gasses is equivalent to the release of 4 ton of CO2!
Chemours (split off from DuPont in July this year) produces products that include brands such as Teflon™, Ti-Pure™, Krytox™ Viton™, Opteon™ and Nafion™.
And also refrigerants!
They have now received approval of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to commercialize the new products, Opteon™ XP40 (R-449A) and the azeotropic Opteon™XP10 (R-513A), have which have GWPs of ‘only’ 1397 and 631, respectively.
Linde Gas developed the F-gas calculator to determine the impact of the new rule on your installation.
