By Lowell Chandler, EIA Climate Policy & Research Associate
At last, the North American market for climate-friendly refrigerators is catching up to the rest of the world. But what does this mean for Canadian, American, and Mexican consumers? You may have thought we already had environmentally-friendly refrigerators since the international community came together in 1987 and, via the Montreal Protocol, discontinued the use of ozone depleting gases. You may have thought, “Refrigerators no longer contain ozone depleting gases! Thank goodness for the Montreal Protocol. Phew, that was a close call!”
No? You didn’t think that? Well, the ozone layer is on a path towards recovery, but we can’t pat ourselves on the back just yet. While the international community came together to phase out the use of ozone depleting gases, the chosen alternative was a super greenhouse gas known as hydroflurocarons (HFCs), with a global warming potential (GWP) hundreds to thousands of times that of carbon dioxide (CO2). In short, we solved the ozone depletion problem but created another one.
You may see retail tags claiming a certain refrigerator is environmentally-friendly, but in reality, if it uses HFCs, it is a far-cry from the truth. While many countries have moved their domestic market of household refrigerators to HFC-free systems using hydrocarbon refrigerants, such as iso-butane, the North American market has been inexplicably slow to transition.
In 2014 however, there have been positive advancements around the world in the plight against climate change. In March, the European Union passed a fluorinated-gas regulation that focuses on a two-thirds reduction of HFC emissions and other high-GWP fluorinated gases by 2030. In June, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) proposed to list low-GWP hydrocarbon refrigerants as acceptable for use in six refrigeration and air-conditioning applications under its Significant New Alternatives Program. This listing will make way for climate-friendly refrigerants in the United States in several end-use sectors, such as stand-alone commercial and household refrigerators and freezers, very low temperature refrigeration, non-mechanical heat transfer, vending machines, and room air-conditioning units. Most recently, the EPA proposed regulations to phase-down certain high-GWP HFCs earlier this month.
These changes in the United States are paving the way for climate-friendly technologies, such as HFC-free refrigerators, to break into the market as companies prepare for new consumer demand. For example, a line of household hydrocarbon refrigerators manufactured by Bosch und Siemens Hausgeräte was recently certified to meet the Canadian Standards Association (CSA) Group’s standard for North America, meaning the company’s line of household hydrocarbon refrigerators is now approved for use and sale. This is one of many first steps in transitioning the market to sell climate-friendly units throughout North America, and the hope is the trend will catch on elsewhere, and soon.
Not only will hydrocarbon units help mitigate millions of tons of CO2 equivalent emissions, they will also alleviate the strain of high utility bills, as these units show energy efficiency improvements of 30 to 60 percent greater than traditional HFC units.
While there is still hope in the battle to mitigate climate change, the world’s largest consumer of HFCs, the United States, still has a lot of catching up to do. Nearly all new European and Japanese household refrigeration units, as well as 75 percent of Chinese units, are already using hydrocarbons. The good news is, as indicated in EIA’s recent report, Putting the Freeze on HFCs: A global digest of available climate-friendly refrigeration and air-conditioning technologies, HFC-free climate-friendly technologies are increasing greatly in market penetration in North America and elsewhere around the world. So hopefully the next time you need to buy a new refrigerator, HFC-free units will not only be available, but they will be the norm.