UNEP OzonAction promotes proper refrigerant management in developing countries as one of its capacity building objectives. We provide National Ozone Units and other stakeholders, including refrigeration servicing technicians, national refrigeration associations and training institutes, with training and information tools in support of refrigerant management, as well as through HCFC Phase out Management Plans, which integrate investment projects, policies and capacity building to phase out HCFCs and introduce low-GWP, energy efficient alternatives. OzonAction also has a major partnership with associations and industries to jointly promote refrigerant management through the global industry supply chain.
HCFCs are widely used in refrigeration and air conditioning applications worldwide in domestic and commercial refrigeration, cold storage, food processing, transport and industrial refrigeration, air conditioning and heat pumps, chillers, and mobile air conditioning. Under the Montreal Protocol, the HCFCs are being phased out and low-GWP, energy efficient alternatives are being introduced to replace them. The main global refrigerant options include ammonia, hydrocarbons, carbon dioxide, HFOs and HFC blends. All have advantages and disadvantages that should be closely considered, including performance, cost, availability, toxicity, flammability, operating pressure, global warming potential and energy efficiency.
All of these refrigerants should be properly managed from cradle to grave to ensure safety, optimize equipment performance, avoid emissions, and save costs. Refrigerant management encompasses refrigerant awareness and proper handling throughout the entire chain, from transport and storage to good servicing practices, recovery and recycling, and proper end-of-life disposal. Good refrigerant management can only be achieved by skilled technicians that have the awareness, expertise and information related to each class of refrigerants that they work with. This is particularly crucial in developing countries where the overwhelming majority of the consumption of ozone depleting substances is in the refrigeration and air conditioning sector, and where refrigerants play a key role in the economic and social backbone of those societies.
Investigating technology solutions
Ozone depleting substances, particularly HCFCS, and non-ozone depleting alternatives such as HFCs are the most commonly used substances in refrigeration and air-conditioning applications. Most HCFCs and HFCs used in these applications have GWPs that are in the range of 1000 to 4000 times more powerful as greenhouse gases than carbon dioxide. Some of the low GWP alternatives to HCFCs and HFCs have properties such as higher flammability, higher toxicity and higher pressure that require a significantly different approach than that employed for previous generations of refrigerant technologies, due to the related safety issues.
Designers of products and equipment need to seek lower GWP alternatives that provide the best performance over a number of criteria, including energy efficiency, safe operation, competitive costs, good environmental performance (which in most cases is a combination of high energy efficiency, minimal leakage and a low or very low GWP refrigerant). In most markets efficient and economically feasible technology options are available or close to the market. However, there is some concern about finding feasible alternatives for the air-conditioning industry in high ambient temperature countries, and this has been a topic of considerable interest to the Parties of the Montreal Protocol in recent years.
OzonAction supports developing countries in making informed decisions regarding the adoption of appropriate alternative technologies as part of the ODS phase-out strategies for developing countries, which will also be extended to the phase-down of HFCs in the coming years. This includes the implementation of the project “Promoting low GWP Refrigerants for Air-Conditioning Sectors in High-Ambient Temperature Countries” (PRAHA) in cooperation with UNIDO to assess the feasibility of low-GWP refrigerants suitable for air conditioning technology in high-ambient temperature countries.
RELATED INITIATIVES
Refrigerant Driving License (RDL)
RDL is an initiative by UNEP OzonAction and Air Conditioning, Heating, and Refrigeration Institute (AHRI) that aims to create a globally-recognized qualification programme for the sound and safe management of refrigerants for the heating, ventilation, air conditioning and refrigeration (HVAC&R) supply chain network. In close cooperation with industry and association partners, the initiative will set minimum qualification requirements and seek international recognition of such a program from industry and governments.
RDL will address the requirements for sound management of different types of current and future refrigerants, including best practices for identifying, handling, charging, recovery and recycling, leak testing, storing, record-keeping, etc. The implementation of RDL will be achieved through the HVAC&R industry business networks, which over time is expected to lead to its widespread recognition by governments, end-users, and public and private sectors.
AHRI and UNEP are promoting RDL to HVAC&R associations via the Global Refrigerant Management Initiative (GRMI) and the International Council of Air-Conditioning, Refrigeration, and Heating Manufacturers Associations (ICARHMA) in order to create adequate momentum of having globally accepted qualification program.
AHRI and UNEP formed an Advisory Committee that provides oversight and technical review for the RDL through its different stages. Members include representatives of major HCAV&R associations from different regions: Associação Brasileira de Refrigeração, Ar Condicionado, Ventilação e Aquecimento (ABRAVA), Asociación Colombiana de Acondicionamiento del Aire y de la Refrigeración (ACAIRE), Air Conditioning and Refrigeration European Association (AREA), ASHRAE, European Partnership for Energy and the Environment (EPEE), Japan Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Industry Association (JRAIA), Refrigerants Australia and the Alliance for Responsible Atmospheric Policy (ARAP).
