How to Reduce Greenhouse Gas (GHGs) Emissions With Refrigerant Gas Tracking?

Posted by Asit Roy on March 30th, 2019

Air conditioning, refrigeration and heat pump systems together account for around 10% of the total emissions of carbon globally. The Montreal Protocol (1987) curbed CFC (chlorofluorocarbon) production to prevent the depletion of the ozone layer any further. Since then, many other regulations have also been levied to regulate the use and production of refrigerants worldwide.

Reporting Greenhouse Gas Emissions Is Now Mandatory

Carbon footprinting or reporting of organization-wide emission of carbon is now mandatory and requiredby law in many countries. The records of fuel and energy consumption and the emission of carbon and greenhouse gases in other areas need to be reported in electronic or paper format. Organizations need to report refrigerant gas, fuel, and energy consumption records, which are a part of regulatory compliance. Apart from the Montreal Protocol, other relevant Acts and Protocols relevant here include the Kyoto Protocol and the U.S. Clean Air Act.

EPA And Other Regulations

Business needs to report the excessive emissions that exceed the limit provided by the EPA or Environment Protection Agency regulations. States have their own regulations in this sphere and these are in place to ensure a healthy and safe environment. An economy-wide implemented system of CHG and carbon emission is now very real, and the USA and other countries may soon initiate the more processes to improve accountability.

HCFCs or Hydrochlorofluorocarbons and Chlorofluorocarbons resemble each other closely in their structure and are bad for the environment. Apart from these, the air conditioning and HVAC (Heating, Ventilation Air Conditioning systems) also include Petro-fluorocarbon (PFCs) that can be bad for the harm the environment. The US Clean Air Act (Section 608) has the provisions to contain the consumption of these harmful chemicals and gases.

Misuse of HCFCs is the main culprit behind the increase in the emission of greenhouse gases, according to EPA. The agency has specifically laid down certain protocols and guidelines, which the owners and operators of the system should abide by and follow, to reduce the emission.

Climate Registry Protocol

This particular protocol Is for tracking the fugitive (refrigerant), stationary (electricity), or mobile (vehicle) emissions. A number of sources of the emissions are detailed in Climate Registry Protocol, EPA protocol, and in the ISO standards as well.

Mobile Emissions- The transport vehicles are the source of these emissions. These pollutants may be emitted due to combustion of fuels or because of the use of certain on-road equipment that is used in the forestry, construction, or agricultural industries and areas.

Stationery Emissions- The emissions remain confined to given and particular spaces and do not spread themselves to wider areas. The fuels are often used to produce heat, steam, electricity or power in a given location.

Fugitive Emissions- The use of obsolete and outdated control equipment or the inefficiency of the equipment may be a cause of fugitive emissions. For instance, the refrigeration system may release the chlorofluorocarbon, and the electrical systems may cause the emission of sulfur hexafluoride (SF6) 

The different laws and protocols detail the systematic method that can be used for gathering and reporting the data. It becomes very important for the companies to know more about the protocol laws and regulations that are relevant on a global scale and in the region in which they operate. The best of suppliers 9including a reputed SF6 gas supplier can also provide to you more information in this regard and may also help you adopt a more systematic and controlled manner of using the chemicals and gases that are susceptible to cause environmental degradation.

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Asit Roy

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Asit Roy
Joined: April 26th, 2016
Articles Posted: 14

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