The paper outlines the key milestones and legislation around the phasedown of hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), which can carry high global warming potential (GWP), and the development of alternatives to HFCs.

The EU’s F-gas regulation is similar to two previous U.S. proposals for a global HFC phasedown, which the paper outlines as the significant markers in the drive toward the phasedown of high-GWP materials. However, unlike the previous U.S. proposals, the EU’s F-gas regulation requires a steeper phasedown and will reach its first milestone — an emissions reduction of 37 percent — as soon as 2018.

Focusing on the potential global implications of the F-gas regulation, Danfoss examines three possible scenarios that could result: a global phasedown, a phasedown limited to the developed world, and a phasedown limited to the EU. The paper then details how abatement costs can be useful in determining the most obvious applications in which to switch to low-GWP refrigerants, and how technologies with low abatement costs will be most affected. It also notes the importance of the F-gas regulation for companies that export to the EU.

Publication date: 7/14/2014

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