Uncategorized

Push to curb ozone-depleting refrigerant

A coalition of industrial and developing countries began pushing on Wednesday for stringent limits on the world's most popular refrigerant for air-conditioners, HCFC-22, which they say harms the ozone layer and contributes to global warming.
The coalition’s main focus is China, reported the New York Times. The country has become the world’s leading manufacturer of air-conditioners that use the refrigerant, HCFC-22. And the use of hydrochlorofluorocarbons, or HCFCs, is rising in China by as much as 35% a year.

The US, Argentina, Brazil, Iceland, Mauritania and Norway on Wednesday notified the Ozone Secretariat of the United Nations Environment Program that they want to see an accelerated phaseout of HCFCs at an international conference in Montreal in September.