eco friendly gas

R134a refrigerant – is it really Environmentally Friendly?

Sure it may have a “0″ ozone depletion rating so why is the Australian Government and other nations going to “ban” it and phase it out by 2015?
The simple answer to the question is that it may have a “0″ ozone depletion rating but the other side of that coin has not been exposed sufficiently. Like most things there’s a downside to R134a. To start with it has a global warming rating some 1300 times higher than carbon dioxide. Sure the refrigerant it replaced (R12) had higher ratings and sure R12 needed to go but was R134a the right choice and did we know the long term effects R134a was going to have and now is having on our environment?
And now with the reports coming out on the increases in component production costs (including the cost to the environment), the high compressor failure rates with R134a as opposed to R12, and the fact that it does have a global warming rating that is too high to continue using it, one has to wonder why anyone would buy a product today that claims R134a as “environmentally friendly” when it’s really “ozone friendly” but highly “global warming unfriendly”.
We’re going to be again shelling out big money within the next couple of years to replace a refrigerant that was sold as the “Big Saviour” of our environment. And has it really reduced or even helped to reduce the ozone depletion rate or did all the associated production and manufacturing of new components, materials and wastage just offset the real benefit?
And no one mentioned that R134a only has a usability life span of 14 years. So what are we going to do with all that recovered R134a refrigerant? Even though it was never labeled as flammable, it actually is highly flammable and toxic when it burns. If there was ever any measurable benefit from the use of R134a will that all be lost in the destruction of this very same gas?
So we can agree that R12 had to go but it had a cost of less than $10 AUD per kg and now we pay over $100 AUD per kg for R134a so what’s it going to cost for the next refrigerant replacement that is going to save our planet? One thing you can take to the bank is the cost of getting rid of the” Big Saviour” R134a is going to be built into the cost of the new kid on the block.
So who’s the big winner out of all of this? You can bet it’s not us the consumer and is there a real benefit to our environment? Just follow the money trail and if you’re not sure where that trail starts I would suggest the refrigerant council of Australia and benefit to the environment… yeah to the benefit of the chemical companies banking environment!
Is there a real answer to the protection our environment? Yes of course there is and we already have had the answer for many many years. The reason why these tried and proven technologies were not pushed? Simply there was no money in it for the chemical companies and all the hangers-on that jumped on the band-wagon and started hollering… the sky is falling the sky is falling, who also cashed in big time but now the cracks are showing up in the hype.
So the next time someone tells you that R134a is “environmentally friendly”… they clearly have no idea what they’re talking about and they are just blowing global warming gas out of their ___! You can fill in the blanks!
Written by Brian McCarthy.
Brian has more than 30 years in energy efficient equipment designs and applications.