With HCFCs “out”, Mexico and China share plans as of what is “in”

Co-organised by the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) and market development company shecco, the two-day UNIDO ATMOsphere Technology Summit (3-4 June 2013) brought together 150 representatives from developing and developed countries to explore the possibilities of leapfrogging high global warming substances in the HVAC&R and foam sectors. The event highlighted successful initiatives worldwide, the importance of knowledge sharing, and the proactive involvement of national governments to create more incentives for the uptake of new technologies to replace HCFCs.

Mexican companies voluntarily moving to R290 AC - possible pilot projects to further advance the move

In Mexico HFCs have been largely phased-in as replacements for HCFCs, according to the presentation by Agustín Sánchez Guevara, National Coordinator of México’s Ozone Protection Unit.

There are, however, examples of some Mexican companies that are right now converting to HCs for commercial and domestic refrigeration.

Moreover, there is a move towards using hydrocarbons (HCs) in the air-conditioning sector. Some manufacturers are voluntarily converting to HC air conditioning (AC):

“There are some companies that are doing this by themselves because of the cost. Because they have to reduce the cost of energy and they can do this with R290”. Regarding Mexico’s future activities for achieving the 60% phase-out target in 2020, Mr Guevara said, ”the good news is that maybe we could insert some conversions of air conditioning equipment to hydrocarbons […] so we can do some pilot projects to advance in this sector.”

Indeed, the presenter underlined the importance of highly energy efficient products that can accommodate tropical climates and offer reasonable equipment cost in a highly competitive market with tight profit margins.

China’s HCFCs Phase-out Management Plan: 5 million HC ACs - annual capacity coming online by 2015

Wang Yong, Deputy Manager at the Ministry of Environmental Protection (MEP/FECO) in Beijing noted that China remains the largest HCFC producer, consumer and exporter: In 2010, China’s production of HCFCs was 0.44 million tons, accounting for 78.5% of the global total, 0.3 million tons of which was for domestic usage (about 48.8% of the global total).

Achieving compliance targets is a tall order that involves a multitude of industries and sectors, including 28 chemical production companies, 50 companies in the air-conditioning sector, more than 300 companies in the industrial and commercial refrigeration sector and more than 10,000 companies active in refrigeration servicing.

Phase-out tasks for each industry in the AC&R consumption and servicing sector prior to 2015 include:

• Air-conditioning: Convert about 40 companies with 9 million unit production capacity, to achieve a reduction of 10,000 tons HCFC-22;
• Commercial and Industrial Refrigeration: Convert about 50 company production lines, to achieve a reduction of 8,500 tons HCFCs;
• Servicing sector: enforce equipment repair, management and HCFC recovery and reuse, to achieve a leakage rate drop of 1-2%, and a recovery rate increase of 2-5%;
• Launch outreach, training, standard revision and R&D in replacement technologies.

The major replacement technologies considered in China include:

• Room air conditioning (RAC): R290 and R410A. R290 will eventually be used in 70% of RAC production (annual capacity of 5 million HC AC units), with two demonstration projects ongoing by UNIDO and GIZ, and a total of 18 plant conversions underway;
• Industrial and commercial refrigeration: R410A, R32, CO₂/NH_3.

Mr Wang stressed the importance of forming, strengthening and enforcing policies and regulations in achieving these priorities, such as the upcoming quota management of HCFC production and consumption.

Implications of reducing f-gas consumption in the EU for the global HCFC phase-out

Cornelius Rhein, of the European Commission’s Directorate for Climate Action, presented the EU’s experience with phasing-out HCFCs:

• No HCFC consumption since 2010;
• Since 2000 progressive ban on uses, as of 2015 also servicing with recycled/reclaimed HCFCs will be banned.

However, the HCFC phase-out has resulted in a massive phase-in of HFCs, which led to the adoption of the first EU F-Gas Regulation in 2006. With low-GWP alternatives available for most F-gas applications, the European Commission proposed at end of 2012 the revision of this regulation to achieve further f-gas emissions reduction to about a third of today’s levels.

Once adopted, the regulation is expected to have an impact beyond the EU, also for global HCFC phase-out:

• EU demand for alternative technologies to spur innovation and economies of scale also in other markets;
• Reduce the cost of a global phase-out of HCFCs that maximises climate benefits;
• Contribute to reaching an international agreement on reducing HFC emissions.