Refrigerant Reclaim Australia (RRA) general manager, Michael Bennett, outlines the positive contribution the Australian RAC industry has made to reducing global warming emissions by recovering and returning contaminated and unwanted refrigerant.
In the last 10 years emissions have been reduced by almost 10 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e). Of course, total abatement will be much higher due to reuse by contractors.
Most refrigerant that is recovered in Australia is reused, generally in the system from which it was extracted. Reusing refrigerant with the required purity reduces overall refrigerant consumption and thereby total emissions.
The quantity of CO2e prevented from emission through the destruction of the contaminated and unwanted recovered refrigerant collected by RRA is shown in a series of charts (*published in the June edition of Climate Control News magazine).
All the recovered refrigerant represented in the chart was destroyed using the argon plasma-arc process that transforms fluorocarbons to salts and water. The chart displays abatement from the three main fluorocarbon species currently in use: CFCs, HCFCs, and HFCs.
There are a few interesting features that are worth pointing out. Firstly, there are two overall observable declines. The first one at 2009-10 was due to the slowing of the economy and consequently refrigerant returns due to the global financial crisis.
The second, and a much greater decline, occurs from 2012 and is the result of the introduction of the carbon tax. The very high prices for refrigerant during that period resulted in contractors retaining recovered refrigerant for reuse, and also increased the volume of refrigerant being fully reclaimed in Australia (returned to new specification).
Another interesting feature is the decline in the abatement from HCFCs brought about by reduced collections of R22. Somewhat perversely the quantity of R22 being collected plummeted since the introduction of the carbon tax, even though R22 was not subject to the tax.
However, the price of R22 did rise substantially and it is now in short supply due to the phase-out of ozone depleting substances.
There is still something like 7,000 tonnes of R22 installed in the Australian market and most of what is being recovered is being reused in some form. Finally, we can see that CFCs remain in long term decline as the recovered volume decreases. No new CFCs have been manufactured or imported in Australia since 1995 yet we are still collecting them in reasonable quantities.
That’s a good thing because CFCs are very strong greenhouse gases. For example, a kilogram of R12 is the equivalent of more than 10 tonnes of CO2e, so please keep recovering CFCs and send them to RRA for safe disposal.
* To receive CCN Magazine email subscriptions@yaffa.com.au