News

AVERAGE GWP CONTINUES TO FALL AS HFOs AND HFC-32 CONSUMPTION INCREASES IN 2018

05 March 2020

The steep reduction in the F-gas HFC cap in 2018 (about 40 % less than for 2017) and the increasing adoption of lower GWP HFCs, HFC/HFO blends and ultra-low HFO/HCFOs has resulted in the largest annual decrease in average GWP from about 1650 in 2017 to 1320 in 2018 (see chart) for total reported supply to the EU market. In 2018 HFOs/HCFOs accounted for about 20% of the reported total sales in metric tonnes of HFCs/HFOs/HCFOs. The HFOs and HCFOs are being used alone and in blends with HFCs in a range of applications including mobile air-conditioning, refrigeration, stationary air-conditioning and heat pumps, foams and technical aerosols.

The switch to lower GWP HFCs is also occurring; BSRIA have reported that “R-32 is gaining ground rapidly and in 2019 approximately 37% of all splits systems used R32 refrigerants”. HFC-32 is an increasing share of the total HFCs/HFOs supplied with a marked increase for 2018 in both metric tonnes and percentage share.

Explanatory note: The average GWP is shown for the total reported supply of HFCs/HFOs (includes HCFOs). This average GWP is different to that quoted in the EEA report which is for all the F-Gases ie HFC/PFCs/SF6. The change in reporting in 2014 including HFCs/HFOs in equipment does not have a major impact on the average GWPs. Annual HFC-32 share shows a step change in 2014 due to inclusion of HFCs in imported equipment, which is mainly for air-conditioning or heat pumps containing R-410A.

References: EEA Fluorinated greenhouse gases 2019 and HCFC data in ODP tonnes (assumes all HCFC-22) https://ozone.unep.org/countries/data-table 

Translate »