| For example, the yield of a crop will benefit as much from the quantity of fertiliser applied to the field as from the quality and strength of that fertiliser.
The pollution caused by one small car driven long and hard can be greater than that from several large cars used little and gently.
In the context of refrigeration, air-conditioning and energy conservation, the environmental impact of fluorochemicals depends on the amounts that are released as well as on the intrinsic properties called Ozone Depletion Potential and Global Warming Potential.
Just as we cannot render a flammable substance non-flammable, we cannot take any action that will change the numbers for the intrinsic properties but if we focus just on these numbers we ignore the part of environmental impact that can be changed.
Emissions can and should be reduced without sacrificing any of the benefits of using these safe materials.
(April 2003)
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