A-Gas has completed a refrigerant destruction project for Wren, a public benefit corporation delivering transparent carbon offset projects to individual subscribers worldwide.
Through the destruction project, A-Gas and Wren are giving individuals an opportunity to fund climate change initiatives by creating over 16,000 metric tonnes of emissions reductions, which is equivalent to the emissions that would result from burning 17 million pounds of coal.
Wren’s nearly 17,000 subscribers funded the project through their platform, which allows their subscribers to offset their carbon emissions via recurring subscriptions or one-off funding options. Since 2019, Wren subscribers have contributed over $6 million to fund projects that reduce or remove carbon emissions.
After recovering ozone-depleting substances (ODS) in the United States, A-Gas destroyed the Ozone Depleting Substances using PyroPlas technology.
Delivering the industry’s highest guaranteed destruction efficiency at 99.9999%, the PyroPlas has no adverse environmental impacts, and is the only plasma arc destruction technology in the US approved for the generation of carbon offsets.
Wren selected HCFC-22 (also known as R22) to destroy as it can no longer be produced or imported into the US, but millions of pounds of the gas are still in use.
Furthermore, thousands of systems—such as residential and commercial air conditioning, some very large centrifugal chillers for air conditioning and industrial process cooling, commercial refrigeration, and auto air conditioners—around the US still use it, which creates a risk of gas leaking into the atmosphere.
A-Gas Americas president, Mike Armstrong, said Wren is a community of nearly 17,000 people committed to fighting climate change.
“It shows that individuals can make a big impact when they work together, and we could not be prouder to work with them to build a more sustainable future,” he said.
A-Gas carbon program director, Brooke Willard, said from the moment the ODS molecules are destroyed, the environment reaps benefits.
“We are thrilled we can provide Wren subscribers with the opportunity to join us as we strive to limit global warming to 1.5C,” she said.
Wren CEO Landon Brand said subscribers want to work with A-Gas to push forward the standard of refrigerant destruction protocols and technology.
“This is one of the most reliable and impactful project types we’ve found in our years of funding climate solutions, and we hope our community can keep blazing a trail to eliminate these dangerous refrigerants,” Brand said.
While the American Carbon Registry (ACR) methodology has included HCFC-22 as eligible for destruction-generated offsets since 2017, few have completed such projects because the price of HCFC-22 is so high.
ACR senior technical manager, Megesh Tiwari, said it is more profitable for organizations to reclaim this product.
As a result this is one of the first HCFC-22 destruction projects utilizing ACR’s methodology.
“The ACR methodology for ozone-depleting substances (ODS) destruction will help spur ambitious climate action to eliminate one of the most potent sources of global warming,” Tiwari said.
“While we have made progress in phasing out ODS, there are significant volumes still in use and in storage around the world. Through this methodology, the carbon market provides incentives to permanently destroy these harmful substances and support a shift to more climate-friendly alternatives.”