The federal government is considering restrictions to reduce the high use of R404A in commercial refrigeration.
Speaking at ARBS, the director of the ozone and climate protection section in the Department of Environment, Patrick McInerney, said the government is considering a range of options but wouldn’t commit to specific restrictions.
“The department is concerned about the high use of R404A because it has not reduced at the rate anticipated despite alternatives being widely available,” he said.
“Australia will consider restrictions on new equipment to help to encourage change and support the HFC phase-down.
“Restrictions might be appropriate where an equipment sector is slow to transition to less harmful refrigerants or there is a persistent supply of new equipment using higher GWP refrigerants in a sector where alternatives are widely in use.”
McInerney said the department will be advising government and this process has begun.
“The uptake of lower GWP automotive refrigerants has been slow but is starting to pick up and we are expecting to see the pace of change increase,” he said.
“In Australia we have managed our transition across refrigerant types in a partnership between government regulation and industry innovation.
“Industry has driven significant change to reduce direct and indirect emissions through changes in product design, the use of lower global warming potential gases and energy efficiency.”
Referring to the Cold Hard Facts series of reports on the refrigeration and air conditioning industry, McInerney said the refrigerant bank has likely peaked in carbon dioxide equivalent terms, even though the amount of RAC equipment is increasing.
“The equipment bank has been stable at around 53,000 metric tonnes over the past 3 years but is projected to grow to around 60,000 metric tonnes by 2030, while the global warming potential of the bank is forecast to decrease,” he said.
McInerney said the Montreal Protocol has been particularly successful.
“As a result of actions under the Montreal Protocol, the ozone layer is predicted to recover in the southern hemisphere by mid-century,” he said.
“Actions taken under the Montreal Protocol avoided 135 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent emissions from 1990 to 2010, more than that achieved under the Kyoto Protocol first commitment period.
“The global HFC phase down will reduce emissions equivalent to 72 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide by 2050 and avoid up to 0.4°C of global warming by the end of this century.
“The Montreal Protocol is now looking at ways to improve energy efficiency in the refrigeration and air conditioning sectors to further protect the climate.”