EPA moves to limit use of greenhouse gas used in air conditioning

WASHINGTON (CN) — The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced Tuesday that starting in 2024, it would begin implementing the next phase of a project to limit greenhouse gases commonly used in refrigerators and air conditioners. 

Hydrofluorocarbons — or HFCs — are powerful greenhouse gases that, while only representing 1% of total greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, have an impact hundreds to thousands of times greater than carbon dioxide per pound. Tuesday’s rule aims to decrease the use of gas by 40% between 2024 and 2028, a step beyond the 10% reductions implemented in 2022.

The reductions aim to achieve a goal to cut the production and use of the gas by 85% by 2036 equivalent to 70 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide that was set out in the American Innovation and Manufacturing Act in 2020. 

If successful, the planet would avoid an additional 0.4 degrees Celsius of warming over the next century, about a third of the total warming humanity has seen since the pre-industrial era according to Megan Lickley, a professor at Georgetown whose research centers on climate change and ozone-depleting chemicals such as HFCs. 

“The EPA’s ruling is a critical step in achieving this goal and I believe will help accelerate the phasing out of HFCs,” Lickley said in an email.

The rule is the latest in a decadeslong effort to combat ozone-depleting substances that began in 1987 with the Montreal Agreement, an international treaty that targeted chlorofluorocarbons and hydrochlorofluorocarbons — which included chemicals like Freon and other aerosols. These were later replaced with HFCs, and the agreement was updated with the Kigali Amendment in 2016. 

According to Martin Wolf, a science and technology policy fellow with the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the refrigeration industry largely supports phasing out HFCs mainly because several U.S. companies have already patented more environmentally friendly replacements.

That’s a good sign for companies and customers, Wolf said.

“According to EPA analyses, phasing out HFCs is both technologically feasible and economically beneficial,” Wolf said in an email. “Using technology that already exists today, U.S. consumers and companies could save money by purchasing greener technologies, reducing emissions by the equivalent amount of about 30 million tons of CO2.” 

The EPA’s rule and promise of greener chemicals for refrigerants will be consequential in the coming years, made evident by the relentless, extreme heat Americans in the South and Southwest have faced this month. In Arizona, where over 400 people died last year in the state's most populous county from heat-related illness, temperatures have exceeded 110 degrees for 12 consecutive days as of Tuesday.

The current timeline would inplement further restrictions on the use of HFCs in 2029, where usage would have to decrease 70% compared to a historic levels of the gas before the phaseout began. The reductions would continue in 2034, setting reductions to 80%, then finally by 85% in 2036.

According to a report by the EPA, HFC use has been growing across the globe as people respond to rising temperatures with more refrigeration and air-conditioning usage, which both account for 77% of national emissions from HFC. The study projects that through 2030, most of those emissions would come from states like Florida, Texas and California. 

EPA officials, politicians and industry leaders applauded the implementation of the rule in a statement announcing the decision on Tuesday, including Stephen Yurek, president and CEO of the Air Conditioning, Heating and Refrigeration Institute. 

“This latest allocation rule is a critical step in the implementation of the AIM Act schedule for phasing down hydrofluorocarbon refrigerants,” Yurek said in the statement. “Our industry appreciates the work of the EPA and the timely issuance of this rule, as we prepare for the next HFC reduction step-down next January.”

In order to enforce the rule, the EPA can place civil or criminal penalties on companies that don’t comply. Additionally, the environmental agency works with the Department of Homeland Security to crack down on illegal HFC shipments, preventing the equivalent of over 1 million metric tons of carbon dioxide to date, according to the statement. 

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