http://www.beyondhfcs.org http://www.beyondhfcs.org/images/main/beyondhfcs-logo-2.png 70 70 http://www.beyondhfcs.org/rss.php RSS News Feed en-gb Sun, 05 Feb 2012 04:51:19 +0100 Sun, 05 Feb 2012 04:51:19 +0100 http://www.beyondhfcs.org/ info@beyondhfcs.org (Beyond HFCs Info) webmaster@beyondhfcs.org (Alex Aleksanyan) http://www.beyondhfcs.org/article.view.php?Id=347/article.view.php?Id=347Fri, 03 Feb 2012 10:44:34 +0100Reducing Europe's emissions is more cost-effective than previously thought, according to a new report by the European commission. The report, published on Tuesday, says that moving to 30 per cent emission reductions by the year 2020 is "feasible, beneficial, much cheaper than previously thought".http://www.beyondhfcs.org/article.view.php?Id=346/article.view.php?Id=346Mon, 30 Jan 2012 00:00:00 +0100Chilean Minister of the Environment advises public to avoid exposure to the sun. The ozone layer above central Chile is expected to be thinning this summer, according to new studies, prompting warnings from scientists and even Chile’s minister of the environment.http://www.beyondhfcs.org/article.view.php?Id=345/article.view.php?Id=345Fri, 27 Jan 2012 00:00:00 +0100tion of the ozone layer above the Arctic so far: The mechanisms leading to the first ozone hole above the North Pole were studied by scientists of the KIT Institute of Meteorology and Climate Research (IMK). According to these studies, further cooling of the ozone layer may enhance the influence of ozone-destroying substances, e.g. chlorofluorocarbons (CFC), such that repeated occurrence of an ozone hole above the Arctic has to be expected.http://www.beyondhfcs.org/article.view.php?Id=344/article.view.php?Id=344Thu, 26 Jan 2012 00:00:00 +0100A new study appearing beginning of January in the Environmental Science & Technology scientific journal confirms that the proposed switch from HFC134a to next generation HFC1234yf in vehicle air-conditioners in EU countries would result in a tenfold increase in the deposition of trifluoroacetic acid (TFA) in the region. Adding to existing concerns regarding safety, the results are alarming given that TFA contributes to the acidification of waters and has a phytotoxic effect.http://www.beyondhfcs.org/article.view.php?Id=343/article.view.php?Id=343Mon, 23 Jan 2012 00:00:00 +0100What is the most environmentally destructive industry? After oil and gas, a strong contender has to be ‘Big Fluorine’, a collection of chemical companies that have profited, and continue to profit, from some of the most environmentally damaging technologies on the planet. From ozone destruction and climate change to toxic waste and dodgy carbon credits, this business has quietly made billions by harming some of the Earth’s most fundamental processes.http://www.beyondhfcs.org/article.view.php?Id=342/article.view.php?Id=342Thu, 19 Jan 2012 00:00:00 +0100On 17 January 2012, the French Member of the European Parliament, Michèle Rivasi, organised a press conference to warn of the dangers of a new refrigerant, HFC-1234yf that is foreseen to be used in the cooling systems of vehicles in the EU and globally. The MEP has tabled a question for a written answer to the European Commission asking whether it can be proved that the refrigerant is safe for human health.http://www.beyondhfcs.org/article.view.php?Id=341/article.view.php?Id=341Wed, 04 Jan 2012 00:00:00 +0100New Zealand's Climate Change Minister Nick Smith has announced that Certified Emission Reduction units (CERs) from HFC-23 and N2O industrial gas destruction projects are now banned from New Zealand’s Emissions Trading Scheme (effective 23 December 2011).http://www.beyondhfcs.org/article.view.php?Id=340/article.view.php?Id=340Thu, 22 Dec 2011 00:00:00 +0100“The European Commission should revise the F-Gas Regulation to prohibit the placement on the market of HFC technologies and products as soon as possible and at the latest by 2020,” reads a joint position paper submitted on behalf of EIA, EEB, WWF and Greenpeace during the public consultation on f-gases that ran in the European Union until 19 December 2011.http://www.beyondhfcs.org/article.view.php?Id=339/article.view.php?Id=339Wed, 21 Dec 2011 00:00:00 +0100The European Commission suspects that the launch of the new refrigerant HFC1234yf for mobile air-conditioning restricts competition in the European market. An antitrust probe examining agreements between the U.S. conglomerate Honeywell and the U.S. chemical company DuPont related to this refrigerant has been therefore initiated.http://www.beyondhfcs.org/article.view.php?Id=338/article.view.php?Id=338Fri, 16 Dec 2011 00:00:00 +0100The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has approved three hydrocarbon refrigerants as acceptable substitutes in household and small commercial refrigerators and freezers. The decision finally opens the US market so far largely monopolised by the fluorinated industry to climate friendly technologies that have a 20-year track record of successful application in other world regions.http://www.beyondhfcs.org/article.view.php?Id=337/article.view.php?Id=337Wed, 14 Dec 2011 12:39:54 +0100Climate negotiations in Durban that were finalised on 11 December 2011 marked a breakthrough, when the Parties agreed to close a global pact that would force all nations, including the biggest emitters, to curb their greenhouse gas emissions as of 2020. It remains unclear, however, what form this agreement will take or what targets the Parties will be bound to.http://www.beyondhfcs.org/article.view.php?Id=335/article.view.php?Id=335Wed, 07 Dec 2011 00:00:00 +0100Carbon dioxide emissions from burning fossil fuels have soared in the last 20 years, giving the world much less chance of avoiding dangerous climate change, new data show.http://www.beyondhfcs.org/article.view.php?Id=336/article.view.php?Id=336Sat, 03 Dec 2011 00:00:00 +0100A new report commissioned by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) on EU climate policies condemns what it sees as a "standstill in long-term strategies". It cites in particular a decline in support for renewable energy sources in the course of the financial crisis.http://www.beyondhfcs.org/article.view.php?Id=334/article.view.php?Id=334Thu, 01 Dec 2011 00:00:00 +0100A new report launched last week at the 23rd meeting of the Parties to the Montreal Protocol in Indonesia by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) projects that by 2050 HFCs could be responsible for emissions equivalent to 3.5 to 8.8 Gigatonnes of CO2eq, comparable to total current annual emissions from transport.http://www.beyondhfcs.org/article.view.php?Id=333/article.view.php?Id=333Tue, 29 Nov 2011 00:00:00 +0100DURBAN: As United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) negotiators meet in Durban, the Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) is calling on all Parties to reject HFC-23 carbon credits following widespread evidence and acknowledgement that most of the credits do not represent real emission reductions.http://www.beyondhfcs.org/article.view.php?Id=331/article.view.php?Id=331Mon, 28 Nov 2011 00:00:00 +0100As this year's UN climate summit opens, some of the developing world's biggest greenhouse gas emitters are bidding to delay talks on a new global agreement.http://www.beyondhfcs.org/article.view.php?Id=332/article.view.php?Id=332Fri, 25 Nov 2011 00:00:00 +0100DENPASAR, BALI: Despite a call from 108 countries for the Montreal Protocol to pursue a phase-out of hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), political manoeuvring in advance of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) climate negotiations have prevented any action or formal discussion on how the potent class of greenhouse gases (GHG) could be eliminated.http://www.beyondhfcs.org/article.view.php?Id=329/article.view.php?Id=329Thu, 24 Nov 2011 00:00:00 +0100The amount of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere reached a new high in 2010 since pre-industrial time and the rate of increase has accelerated, according to the World Meteorological Organization’s Greenhouse Gas Bulletin. It focussed special attention on rising nitrous oxide concentrations.http://www.beyondhfcs.org/article.view.php?Id=330/article.view.php?Id=330Thu, 24 Nov 2011 00:00:00 +0100For the third year now, Parties to the Montreal Protocol have failed to agree on action that would ensure that the substances adopted as alternatives to ozone depleting substances do not have other environmental impacts, namely on climate warming.http://www.beyondhfcs.org/article.view.php?Id=328/article.view.php?Id=328Wed, 23 Nov 2011 00:00:00 +0100Emissions of hydrofluorocarbons, heat-trapping industrial gases used in air conditioners and refrigerators, must be curbed to help combat climate change, according to the United Nations. The UN report today comes as governments adhering to the ozone-protection rules of the Montreal Protocol consider phasing out hydrofluorocarbon-23 production, whose warming potential per molecule of HFC is 11,700 times more powerful than carbon dioxide.http://www.beyondhfcs.org/article.view.php?Id=327/article.view.php?Id=327Sat, 19 Nov 2011 00:00:00 +0100A definitive report from the the U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released today says it now certain that human emissions of greenhouse gases and warming aerosols like black carbon are increasing the frequency and intensity of extreme weather by putting more heat energy into the climate system.http://www.beyondhfcs.org/article.view.php?Id=326/article.view.php?Id=326Thu, 17 Nov 2011 14:32:59 +0100The EU should publicly and unequivocally confirm its strong commitment to the Kyoto Protocol and declare openly that it is ready to continue with the second commitment period, a Resolution voted by Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) on 16 November reads. It also reiterates that the production and consumption of HFCs should be addressed under the Montreal Protocol.http://www.beyondhfcs.org/article.view.php?Id=325/article.view.php?Id=325Mon, 14 Nov 2011 00:00:00 +0100“It is essential that the opportunity to enact ambitious prohibition measures is not missed again” under the revised EU regulation on fluorinated gases, reads a new position paper by the Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA), who calls for an HFC phase-out in the EU by 2020 through use bans and placing-on-the-market restrictions.http://www.beyondhfcs.org/article.view.php?Id=324/article.view.php?Id=324Thu, 10 Nov 2011 12:24:52 +0100EU finance ministers pledged yesterday (8 November) to add €7.2 billion in short term funds to help poor countries deal with the effects of climate change. “Despite the severe economic downturn and strong fiscal constraints in Europe, we have mobilised €2.34 bn also in 2011,” said the EU's Climate Action Commissioner Connie Hedegaard.http://www.beyondhfcs.org/article.view.php?Id=322/article.view.php?Id=322Wed, 09 Nov 2011 00:00:00 +0100(Reuters) - EU finance ministers on Tuesday signed off on more than 4 billion euros ($5.5 billion) in short-term funding to help developing countries adapt to climate change and curb emissions -- even as they met to grapple with Europe's debt crisis.http://www.beyondhfcs.org/article.view.php?Id=323/article.view.php?Id=323Wed, 09 Nov 2011 00:00:00 +0100The Australian Senate backed the government’s proposal for Clean Energy Act on 8 November 2011, setting up a carbon pricing mechanism and imposing a carbon equivalent charge on hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs). BeyondHFCs welcomes Senate’s backing of the plan, which will become an important instrument in tackling climate change.http://www.beyondhfcs.org/article.view.php?Id=321/article.view.php?Id=321Tue, 25 Oct 2011 00:00:00 +0200Last week California adopted a regulation that sets a statewide limit on sources responsible for 85% of California’s greenhouse gas emissions. Companies can cover up to 8% of their emissions by using offset credits from projects dedicated to the destruction of existing banks of ozone-depleting substances (ODS) in the U.S.http://www.beyondhfcs.org/article.view.php?Id=320/article.view.php?Id=320Fri, 14 Oct 2011 00:00:00 +0200The first Environment Council under the Polish Presidency held on 10 October in Luxembourg adopted conclusions laying out the key elements of the EU’s position for the United Nations climate conference to be held in Durban, South Africa later this year. EU environment ministers call for an ambitious and balanced outcome from Durban bringing the world closer to a global legally-binding framework for climate action, and call for international action on HFCs.http://www.beyondhfcs.org/article.view.php?Id=319/article.view.php?Id=319Thu, 06 Oct 2011 14:03:32 +0200Denmark's new center-left government adopted a target on Monday to reduce Denmark's greenhouse gas emissions by 40 percent by 2020 from 1990 levels and boost renewable energy to cover half of Denmark's electricity need.http://www.beyondhfcs.org/article.view.php?Id=318/article.view.php?Id=318Mon, 03 Oct 2011 00:00:00 +0200Ozone loss over the Arctic this year was so severe that for the first time it could be called an "ozone hole" like the Antarctic one, scientists report.http://www.beyondhfcs.org/article.view.php?Id=317/article.view.php?Id=317Tue, 27 Sep 2011 00:00:00 +0200Recognising that existing legislative measures aimed at reducing fluorinated gas emissions including HFCs in the EU are not sufficient to put the EU in the right pathway towards achieving its long-term (2050) overall greenhouse gas emission targets, the European Commission is now consulting stakeholders on the potential economic, social and environmental impacts of different options for additional reductions of fluorinated gases in the EU.http://www.beyondhfcs.org/article.view.php?Id=316/article.view.php?Id=316Thu, 22 Sep 2011 10:33:20 +0200Global CO2 emissions increased by 45% between 1990 and 2010, reaching an all-time high of 33 billion tonnes, according to a new report by the EU's Joint Research Centre (JRC).http://www.beyondhfcs.org/article.view.php?Id=315/article.view.php?Id=315Thu, 22 Sep 2011 09:36:08 +0200AUSTRALIA has moved to inject momentum into the latest round of international negotiations to cut global emissions, amid increasing signs of divisions over the future of the Kyoto Protocol and whether developing countries should sign up to legally binding emissions reduction targets.http://www.beyondhfcs.org/article.view.php?Id=314/article.view.php?Id=314Wed, 21 Sep 2011 00:00:00 +0200Two German organisations blame car markers for intentionally evading compliance with the European MAC Directive, which entered into force in January 2011. In the last 9 months, only two new car models have been type approved, both using the new synthetic refrigerant HFO1234yf. It seems that the automotive industry does not feel very comfortable with their unilateral choice of this new substance that raises severe safety concerns.http://www.beyondhfcs.org/article.view.php?Id=313/article.view.php?Id=313Mon, 19 Sep 2011 00:00:00 +0200The phase-out of hydrochlorofluoro- carbons (HCFCs) under the Montreal Protocol could be undermined by black market trade unless enforcement agencies are prepared, a new report warns.http://www.beyondhfcs.org/article.view.php?Id=312/article.view.php?Id=312Fri, 16 Sep 2011 00:00:00 +020016 September is labelled an International Day for the Preservation of Ozone Layer, commemorating the date in 1987 on which the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer was signed. The theme of this year’s Ozone Day is ‘HCFC phase-out: a unique opportunity’… to leapfrog HFCs.http://www.beyondhfcs.org/article.view.php?Id=308/article.view.php?Id=308Wed, 14 Sep 2011 00:00:00 +0200The European Parliament has today adopted a Motion for a Resolution calling for a rapid phase-down of hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs). In the plenary discussion that preceded the vote, the Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) highlighted the lack of attention paid to non-CO2 climate-relevant gases and emphasised that the weight of these gases on the total global warming emissions is rapidly increasing.http://www.beyondhfcs.org/article.view.php?Id=311/article.view.php?Id=311Wed, 14 Sep 2011 00:00:00 +0200Arctic sea ice this summer melted to a record low extent or will come a close second, two different research institutes said on Tuesday, confirming a trend which could yield an ice-free summer within a decade.http://www.beyondhfcs.org/article.view.php?Id=307/article.view.php?Id=307Tue, 13 Sep 2011 00:00:00 +0200Germany's influential car magazine AUTOBILD has published a 3 page report dedicated to HFO1234yf, the new refrigerant of choice for mobile air-conditioning systems. The magazine reports on results from lab tests demonstrating the danger to human health caused by HFO and speculates on the reasons why OEMs opt for this more expensive and dangerous refrigerant when cheap and harmless alternatives are available.http://www.beyondhfcs.org/article.view.php?Id=306/article.view.php?Id=306Thu, 01 Sep 2011 00:00:00 +0200The debate over who polices F-Gas rages on after it was revealed that an electrical wholesaler is selling refrigerants on the open market, backed by a major supplier.http://www.beyondhfcs.org/article.view.php?Id=304/article.view.php?Id=304Tue, 23 Aug 2011 00:00:00 +0200A key challenge for climate policy is to decide by how much and when to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases other than carbon dioxide (CO2), for example, methane, nitrous oxides and hydrofluorocarbons. Under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and its Kyoto Protocol, emissions of non-CO2 gases are weighted by their global-warming potential (GWP) to convert them into "CO2-equivalent" emissions. This provides a simple metric that allows emissions from different gases to be traded off against each other to meet future overall mitigation targets. The weight given to emissions of non-CO2 gases compared to CO2 could thus have important implications for future climate policy in some countries. http://www.beyondhfcs.org/article.view.php?Id=309/article.view.php?Id=309Tue, 23 Aug 2011 00:00:00 +020023 August 2011 – Signs of ozone depletion are again appearing over the Antarctic, the United Nations reported today, adding that prevailing temperatures and polar stratospheric clouds indicate that the degree of ozone loss this year will most likely be about average in comparison to the past decade.http://www.beyondhfcs.org/article.view.php?Id=310/article.view.php?Id=310Mon, 22 Aug 2011 00:00:00 +0200WASHINGTON – Today, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is launching a new tool to allow 28 industrial sectors to submit their 2010 greenhouse gas (GHG) pollution data electronically. Prior to being finalized, more than1,000 stakeholders, including industry associations, states and NGOs tested the electronic GHG Reporting Tool (e-GGRT) to ensure clarity and user-friendliness.http://www.beyondhfcs.org/article.view.php?Id=303/article.view.php?Id=303Fri, 19 Aug 2011 00:00:00 +0200ScienceDaily (Aug. 18, 2011) — Fluorinated hydrocarbons are potent greenhouse gases, emission of which must be reduced under the Kyoto Protocol. If you rely on the official reports of the participating countries, the output of trifluoromethane (HFC-23) in Western Europe is indeed significantly decreasing. However, pollutant measurements carried out by researchers at Switzerland's Empa now reveal that several countries under-report their emissions. For instance, Italy emits 10 to 20 times more HFC-23 than it officially reports.http://www.beyondhfcs.org/article.view.php?Id=302/article.view.php?Id=302Fri, 05 Aug 2011 00:00:00 +0200Carbon dioxide remains the undisputed king of recent climate change, but other greenhouse gases measurably contribute to the problem. A new study, conducted by NOAA scientists and published online today (3 August 2011) in Nature, shows that cutting emissions of those other gases could slow changes in climate that are expected in the future.http://www.beyondhfcs.org/article.view.php?Id=301/article.view.php?Id=301Wed, 03 Aug 2011 00:00:00 +0200As the conditions for developing countries to receive funding for the implementation of the Montreal Protocol increasingly take into account the climate benefits from HCFC replacement technologies proposed, hydrofluorocarbon (HFC) refrigerant producers are playing a last card that is supposed to enable them to maintain a sizeable market share: it is called HFC32 (R32) and is promoted as “climate friendly”. But is it really?  http://www.beyondhfcs.org/article.view.php?Id=300/article.view.php?Id=300Tue, 02 Aug 2011 00:00:00 +0200On 19 July 2011, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued proposed technical corrections under its Greenhouse Gas Reporting Rule. The amendments do not alter the overall requirements but rather provide clarity on the calculation, monitoring and data reporting requirements that large sources of fluorinated greenhouse gases (f-gases) including hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) are subject to.http://www.beyondhfcs.org/article.view.php?Id=299/article.view.php?Id=299Thu, 14 Jul 2011 00:00:00 +0200The Australian Government has announced a plan for tackling climate change, under which hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) will face a carbon price that will provide the right signal for a more widespread transition to climate-friendly natural refrigerants. BeyondHFCs welcomes the announcement and calls on the Australian parliament to adopt the proposal.http://www.beyondhfcs.org/article.view.php?Id=298/article.view.php?Id=298Thu, 07 Jul 2011 00:00:00 +0200MEPs have voted against extending the EU's greenhouse gas emissions target to 30 per cent.http://www.beyondhfcs.org/article.view.php?Id=297/article.view.php?Id=297Fri, 01 Jul 2011 00:00:00 +0200In presence of the Health Minister of Seychelles, Dr. Erna Athanasius, the African regional meeting participated by 24 countries was declared open today by Didier Dogley, Principle Secretary, Ministry of Environment. “This is the treaty that never fails to deliver”, said Mr. Dogley referring to the Montreal Protocol that now is considered by many as the most successful environment treaty ever.