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HFC Industrial Gases Need Control, UN Specialist Says (Update1)
2010-09-28 14:56:30.337 GMT
(Adds background on Montreal Treaty from fifth paragraph.)
By Ewa Krukowska
Sept. 28 (Bloomberg) -- Emissions of hydrofluorocarbons
need to be curbed and regulators must tighten controls over the
"unwanted" HFC-23 greenhouse gas, according to the head of
ozone branch at the United Nations Environment Program.
Governments worldwide are considering phasing out
production of hydrofluorocarbon-23 under the ozone-protection
rules of the Montreal Protocol. Regulators of the UN carbon
market are under scrutiny over allegations that some investors
are profiting unduly from emission offset credits related to the
gas. The warming potential per molecule of HFC is 11,700 times
more powerful than carbon dioxide.
The European Union is working on a proposal to restrict
some offsets linked to industrial gases that can be used for
compliance in its own emissions trading system.
"Efforts to regulate HFCs have already been announced by
the EU, there are also proposals under the Montreal Protocol and
the regulations need to be tightened," the UN's Rajendra Shende
said in an interview in Brussels during the Atmosphere 2010
workshop. "Time is the essence. Things may change fast as
there's growing realization that we need to act."
More than 190 states that ratified the Montreal Protocol
agreed to a total phase-out of hydrochlorofluorocarbons, known
as HCFCs, by 2030 in developed countries and by 2040 in
developing nations. HCFCs gained favor in the early 1990s as an
alternative to chlorofluorocarbons, which scientists linked to
the depletion of the ozone layer. Still, their global-warming
potential was considered unacceptable when the phase-out was
decided in 2007.
Air Conditioners
To better protect the climate, the signatories of the
Montreal Protocol are now mulling phasing-down HFC-23, a by-
product of HCFC-22 used in the air-conditioning and
refrigeration industries.
Draft measures before a meeting of the parties starting
Nov. 8 in Kampala, the capital of Uganda, include a proposal by
the U.S., Mexico and Canada to cut HFCs to 15 percent of
baseline by 2033 in developed nations and by 2043 in developing
countries.
The Federated States of Micronesia are proposing that HFCs
be reduced to 10 percent of baseline by 2030 in developed
nations and 2036 in developing countries.
'Meet Half-Way'
Both proposals have the same intentions, and it's probable
that "these countries will meet half-way," Shende said.
"The Montreal Protocol community is quite distinct from
the Kyoto Protocol community," Shende said. "They are more
doers than debaters. Because it's related to climate change and
because the world feels that little is being done on climate
change, probably the Montreal Protocol becomes the only show in
the town to take immediate action. The governments may agree. I
wouldn't rule it out."
Negotiators meeting last year in Copenhagen to iron out a
greenhouse gas-reduction framework for when the Kyoto Protocol
expires in 2012 failed to reach a binding deal, settling instead
for a political accord. The next summit is scheduled to start
near the end of November in Cancun, Mexico.
Before the global talks start, the regulators of the Clean
Development Mechanism, the UN-supervised carbon market, are due
to decide whether to change the methodology of awarding credits
to projects that cut HFC-23 amid allegations of misuse.
'Bogus Credits'
The Bonn-based environmental group CDM Watch said in a
June 14 report that some companies won "bogus credits" by
artificially boosting greenhouse-gas emissions on HFC projects.
The claim is rejected by polluters and investors including
Natsource LLC.
The CDM, created under the Kyoto Protocol, is the world's
second-biggest carbon market after the European Union cap-and-
trade program. Investors can use credits earned in the CDM for
reduction of emissions in developing countries to comply with
their quota under the EU system.
"While the CDM helps control emissions of greenhouse
gases, the Montreal Protocol removes the root cause," Shende
said. "Better methodologies need to be looked into to see if
the objective of the CDM is really met. In the meanwhile, let
the emissions control continue and let's see what comes out of
the Montreal Protocol talks. Eventually, we may have two
parallel tracks."
For Related News and Information:
Emission market news: NI ENVMARKET <GO>
Today's top energy stories: ETOP <GO>
European power-markets home page: EPWR <GO>
--Editors: Stephen Voss, Mike Anderson.
To contact the reporter on this story:
Ewa Krukowska in Brussels at +32-474-620-243 or
ekrukowska@bloomberg.net;
To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Stephen Voss at +44-20-7073-3520 or sev@bloomberg.net
EUETSY10 <Index> CN
