A documentary looking at the challenges and opportunities in phasing out HCFCs in China has been broadcasted on BBC World to raise awareness of the environmental benefits that R290 may bring about if used in A/C units. The programme visited the research department housed by a major Chinese A/C manufacturer that plans to start a new propane production line later this year. + NEW: The full documentary video is now available
On the run-up to the International Day for the Preservation of the Ozone Layer on 16 September 2009, a sequence of broadcastings of the BBC Programme Earth Report: Perfectly Cool was scheduled. The 22-minute documentary looked at the challenges faced in trying to phase out HCFCs in China and the opportunities to leap frog HFC technologies that cause global warming and directly move to the use of hydrocarbons based AC technologies. Earth Report traveled to China, centre of the global A/C industry, to investigate the cost of cool.
A new propane A/C production line will start later this year
“At present the gas used in air conditioning units around the world either damages the ozone layer or causes global warming. So the challenge for China – and the world – is how to be perfectly cool, and successfully make and sell air conditioning that doesn’t harm the planet”, maintains the programme.
To answer the question whether China is developing the air conditioning unit the industry has been waiting for, Earth Report met with Xiao Youyuan, senior researcher at Gree Electric Appliances, China’s air conditioning giant. The research department at Gree has been testing a new A/C unit, which uses propane (R290), a refrigerant that doesn’t harm the ozone layer, and has only a tiny effect on global warming. The consideration of hydrocarbons in ACs by Gree was enabled by the ‘Pilot production of climate-friendly room air conditioners in China’ project that was funded by the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety and implemented by GTZ GmbH, the Chinese Ministry of Environmental Protection/Foreign Economic Cooperation Office and the China Household Electrical Appliances Association.
Tests on these units have continued non-stop for over six months, with R290 looking promising so far. A whole floor has been set aside for a new propane production line, which will start, on a small scale, later this year. Whether it will be a success or not depends on sales. Other companies in China are working on rival schemes for safe air conditioning.
HFCs could only be a temporary solution
Earth Report also met with Professor Jiang Feng from the China Household Electrical Appliances Association. He maintained that “the substitute for HCFCs is 410a. This does no damage to the ozone layer, but it is still a greenhouse gas, and the global warming potential is even higher than that of HCFC. The number is 2,000. So personally I think it’s not the perfect substitute. It’s just a temporary substitute. I think it will be phased out from the market. It’s just a matter of time”.
View part I of the Earth Report: Perfectly Cool programme on YouTube:
View part II of the Earth Report: Perfectly Cool programme on YouTube:
About Earth Report
Earth Report is produced by TVE and broadcast first on BBC World to 280 million homes in 125 countries.
The Earth Report: Perfectly Cool documentary has been developed by UNEP, UNDP, UNIDO, World Bank, GTZ-Proklima, INECE and TVE.
A new propane A/C production line will start later this year
“At present the gas used in air conditioning units around the world either damages the ozone layer or causes global warming. So the challenge for China – and the world – is how to be perfectly cool, and successfully make and sell air conditioning that doesn’t harm the planet”, maintains the programme.
To answer the question whether China is developing the air conditioning unit the industry has been waiting for, Earth Report met with Xiao Youyuan, senior researcher at Gree Electric Appliances, China’s air conditioning giant. The research department at Gree has been testing a new A/C unit, which uses propane (R290), a refrigerant that doesn’t harm the ozone layer, and has only a tiny effect on global warming. The consideration of hydrocarbons in ACs by Gree was enabled by the ‘Pilot production of climate-friendly room air conditioners in China’ project that was funded by the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety and implemented by GTZ GmbH, the Chinese Ministry of Environmental Protection/Foreign Economic Cooperation Office and the China Household Electrical Appliances Association.
Tests on these units have continued non-stop for over six months, with R290 looking promising so far. A whole floor has been set aside for a new propane production line, which will start, on a small scale, later this year. Whether it will be a success or not depends on sales. Other companies in China are working on rival schemes for safe air conditioning.
HFCs could only be a temporary solution
Earth Report also met with Professor Jiang Feng from the China Household Electrical Appliances Association. He maintained that “the substitute for HCFCs is 410a. This does no damage to the ozone layer, but it is still a greenhouse gas, and the global warming potential is even higher than that of HCFC. The number is 2,000. So personally I think it’s not the perfect substitute. It’s just a temporary substitute. I think it will be phased out from the market. It’s just a matter of time”.
View part I of the Earth Report: Perfectly Cool programme on YouTube:
View part II of the Earth Report: Perfectly Cool programme on YouTube:
About Earth Report
Earth Report is produced by TVE and broadcast first on BBC World to 280 million homes in 125 countries.
The Earth Report: Perfectly Cool documentary has been developed by UNEP, UNDP, UNIDO, World Bank, GTZ-Proklima, INECE and TVE.
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Feb 23, 2010, 13:10
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