Climate burden of HFCs

Nature News : Modern refrigerants designed to protect the ozone layer are poised to become a major contributor to global warming because of their future explosive growth in the developing world. Hydrofluorocarbon chemicals (HFCs) were developed to phase out ozone-depleting gases, in response to the Montreal Protocol . But they can be hundreds or thousands of times more powerful than carbon dioxide as greenhouse gases in trapping heat.In the new study , a team led by Guus Velders at the Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency in Bilthoven analyzed the latest industry trends and then modeled HFC production to 2050. Their results suggest that HFC emissions could be the equivalent of between 5.5 billion and 8.8 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide annually by 2010—roughly 19% of the projected CO ₂ emissions if greenhouse gases continue to rise unchecked. Related Link The large contribution of projected HFC emissions to future climate forcing