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A source for everyone interested in energy, business and the environment  |
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"...an invaluable guide to a more helpful future..."
-Walter Cronkite |
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European Commission Reaches Agreement to Reduce Fluorinated Greenhouse Gases
BRUSSELS, October 14, 2004—The European Commission reached an agreement in the Council today to reduce emissions of fluorinated greenhouse gases. Fluorinated gases are extremely powerful and long-lived greenhouse gases used in refrigeration, air conditioning, fire-fighting and other industry processes. Under the 1997 Kyoto Protocol, the reduction of fluorinated gases is required, and will help the European Union and its member states meet their Kyoto emission targets and reduce emissions further after 2012. The legislative agreement includes a Directive dealing with fluorinated gases used in air conditioning systems in vehicles, and a regulation addressing stationary applications.
“The legislation agreed today is another element in the framework we are building to curb climate change and to implement the Kyoto Protocol,” said Environment Commissioner Margot Wallström. “It is an important element because F-gases have huge global warming potential—in some cases almost 24,000 times that of carbon dioxide. By agreeing on this legislation, Member States have once again taken concrete action to fight climate change.”
The Directive will phase out HFC 134a, the refrigerant currently used in vehicle air conditioning systems, from 2011 onward for new vehicle models, and from 2017 for all new vehicles. Also, before the phase-out starts, vehicle air conditioners should not leak more than 40 grams of HBC-134a per year. If the vehicle has two evaporators, as in some minivans, the maximum leakage rate is 60 grams per year.
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