Regulations, market drivers, and trends reflect that carbon dioxide (CO2) is increasingly being used as a refrigerant in a variety of applications. This includes applications such as: supermarkets/grocery stores, cold rooms, walk-in freezers, industrial cold storage, and food manufacturing/processing.
CO2 is less environmentally harmful than many of the gases previously used in these refrigeration applications, having a significantly lower global warming potential (GWP) than hydrofluorocarbon (HFC) and hydrochlorofluorocarbon (HCFC) refrigerants. Some of these gases, such as R-404A, are beginning to be phased out of use due to environmental impact and regulations. These factors contribute to CO2 becoming an increasingly attractive option for use when balanced against the requirements of regulations such as F-Gas (EU Regulation No. 517/2014), and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Clean Air Act Section 608.