Australia isn’t transitioning to low GWP refrigerants fast enough but that will change in 2024 when the HFC quota will begin to bite.
Australia is currently lagging behind the rest of the world, even New Zealand is transitioning faster, according to the chair of the Australian Refrigerant Wholesalers Association, Greg Brooker.
Speaking at the Futuregas seminar in Sydney yesterday, Brooker said the current inertia will shift next year when the HFC phase down begins to ramp up and there is another 10 per cent drop in the quota.
Brooker said a sufficient stock of refrigerants has masked the phasedown but that is set to change.
He said Australia’s biggest problem is its growing bank of HFC-404A, which has a very high global warming potential of about 4,000.
It accounted for just nine per cent (2,800 tonnes) of the refrigerant bank in 2006 and grew to around 22,400 tonnes in 2021, according to Cold Hard Facts 2022.
“Medium sized commercial refrigeration is firmly entrenched on HFC-404A for new and replacement applications, with only initial signs of this segment transitioning to HFO/HFC blends or natural refrigerant alternatives, representing less than 10 per cent of installations in 2021,” according to the Cold Hard Facts report.
“While the major supermarket chains are steadily reducing their dependency on HFC-404A, it is still the independent supermarket’s refrigerant of choice for new stores and refurbishments.”
Temperzone Australia managing director, Rob Beggs, said the rapid adoption of heat pump technology will also add to the HFC bank.
He said the high adoption rate can be partly attributed to the emergence of heat pumps substituting gas appliances.
This is supported by the Cold Hard Facts report which found that domestic hot water heat pumps employing high global warming potential (GWP) HFC-410A have seen a surge of imports.
“Annual sales in 2021 surged by 90 per cent compared to the previous year, adding around 50 tonnes of HFCs to the bank in 2021 with significant growth predicted in the years ahead,” the report said.
Futuregas seminars will be held in Brisbane, Townsville, Darwin and Perth in coming weeks for details go to