Fluorocarbons have a particular impact on the climate in the atmosphere – they make a major contribution to the greenhouse gas effect and thus global warming. Their molecules prevent the absorption of thermal radiation from the earth’s surface. The warming potential of the individual fluorinated hydrocarbons is very different and is around a factor of 100 to 23,000 compared to carbon dioxide (CO2). In contrast to chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), however, fluorinated hydrocarbons have no effect on the ozone hole. Since the implementation of the Montreal Protocol after 1987 was initially about using suitable, available substitutes as coolants as quickly as possible, when the use of CFC refrigerants was phased out, other then available HFCs were used as replacement refrigerants. Alternatives that are less harmful to the climate came onto the market gradually from the 1990s onwards. In 2016, PFC was the fastest growing greenhouse gas.
The contracting states of the Montreal Protocol (now all 197 states of the United Nations) have now included HFCs in the protocol and thus initiated a switch to climate-friendly alternatives. The resolution obliges industrialized and developing countries to different degrees to initially freeze the production and use of HFCs and to reduce them in the following years. For example, industrialized countries are obliged to reduce the amount of HFCs as early as 2019; two further groups of countries will follow on later reference dates. In addition, the industrialized countries have committed to support the developing countries with additional funds through the Multilateral Fund of the Montreal Protocol.
If, as an importer of HFC-containing products, you need F-gas quotas, we are at your disposal.