The hidden cost of keeping cool

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Concern over the emissions from air-conditioning and other cooling equipment tends to focus on the energy used and the manner in which the electricity was generated. Many people are often unaware that there is a second major source of GHG emissions from cooling devices known as hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs).

The global GHG emissions associated with space cooling (i.e., air-conditioning units) and refrigeration are estimated to be 4.1 Gt CO2e per year. Of this approximately two-thirds (2.7 Gt CO2e) relates to the energy used, with the remainder (1.4 Gt CO2e) resulting from the leakage of refrigerants into the atmosphere.

HFCs are gradually replacing chlorofluorocarbons (CFC) as the refrigerant used in new cooling devices. As many readers of a certain age will remember from when they were kids (it was always on the news in the late 1980s), CFCs were responsible for destroying the ozone layer.

However, as can often happen, solve one problem (parties to the Montreal Protocol agreed to phase out CFCs), and you often create another, hopefully the lesser of two evils. While HFCs do not harm the ozone, they have almost 15,000 times the global warming potential of CO2. It's one hell of a superpollutant!

A recent article in The Economist urges Europeans to learn to love the air-conditioner, suggesting that the "impressive build-out of renewable energy in Europe’s hottest places means that judiciously dialling down the temperature will not do much to melt the glaciers." The article neglects to mention the potent GHG lurking inside all but the newest AC units currently in use.

While modern ACs should no longer use these so-called "F-gases", older units most certainly do. And that's a problem with a typical AC lasting up to 20 years before it is replaced, and annual refrigerant leakage rates estimated at 5%. Even if replacing an AC unit with a modern one without HFCs, the dangers don't end there; inappropriately disposed of, the gases will leak even more rapidly into the atmosphere.