But the use of these damaging gases is climbing generally, as developing world economies use and produce more HFC-spewing cars, air conditioners and refrigerators, and as they make more foam insulation that uses the chemical during manufacture.Įmissions from HFCs are growing at a rate of 10 to 15 percent per year, the study says. So far, HFC 134a and other types of hydrofluorocarbons have contributed to less than one percent of total global warming, according to a study published in the Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics scientific journal. The result today is that most of the billion or so cars on the world’s roads use the HFC refrigerant-but while the ozone layer has rebounded, HFC 134a is exacerbating the global warming problem. Under the Montreal Protocol, a 1987 treaty that zeroed out substances harmful to the earth’s ozone layer, HFC 134 was chosen by nations as the best alternative at the time to replace ozone-depleting CFCs. How countries got to this point is a classic case of unintended environmental consequences.
The United States has no such mandate yet. The European Union has banned HFC 134a for any newly redesigned or reengineered vehicles this year, and for all vehicles in 2017-though the industry elsewhere is not rapidly adopting the EU’s lead. Many automakers of both electric cars and conventional ones have expressed reluctance to commit to the switch, citing the cost and limited supply of new alternatives. “It makes sense for electric vehicles to use, and to reduce their overall global warming potential,” said Don Anair, deputy director of the clean vehicles program at the Union of Concerned Scientists, a science advocacy group.īut among 16 EV models on America’s roads, only two-Chevy’s newest model of its all-electric Spark and the leaseable Honda Fit-have ditched the super greenhouse gas HFC 134a for the climate safe alternative so far.
Climate experts say it’s clear that all electric automakers should get on board soon. As much as half of current HFC emissions, a small but fast-growing source of global warming pollution, come from leaks out of the air conditioners in cars.Īlready a number of Chevrolet, Buick, GMC and Cadillac gas-powered cars use an alternative climate-friendlier coolant called HFO 1234yf, as carmakers confront growing pressure from environmentalists and as regulations are developed by governments. The liquid coolant is so potent that when it leaks into the atmosphere it traps 1,400 times more heat than carbon dioxide over a 100-year time horizon.įor automakers and advocates of green transportation, it poses an uncomfortable truth: Vehicles touted as a solution to climate change carry a hairspray-sized canister loaded with a chemical that significantly contributes to warming of the earth’s climate. The Chevy Volt, Nissan Leaf and Tesla Roadster all use a super greenhouse gas known as HFC 134a as the refrigerant for their air conditioners.
America’s electric cars are better for the environment, but they share a dirty little secret.
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