United States. In support of President Obama's Climate Action Plan, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) proposes to increase refrigerant options in the United States that offer better environmental protection without damaging the ozone layer.
This is the agency's first action dealing with refrigerants under the Climate Action Plan, which asks EPA's Alternative New Policy Program (SNAP) to identify and approve additional climate-friendly chemicals.
Under the authority of the Clean Air Act, epa's SNAP Program evaluates substitute chemicals and technologies that are safe for the ozone layer. This proposed action would expand the list of SNAP-approved substitutes to include more low global warming potential (GWP) alternatives that can replace both ozone-depleting substances and high global warming potential (HFC) hydrofluorocarbons.
EPA proposes to list additional low-GWP hydrocarbon refrigerants in six refrigeration and air conditioning applications: commercial standalone domestic refrigerators and freezers; cooling at very low temperature; non-mechanical heat transfer; vending machines; and air conditioning equipment for rooms.
In addition, the proposal adds a lower GWP-HFC (HFC-32) that has only one-third the GWP that conventional refrigerants currently used in room air conditioning equipment have. These refrigerants are already in use in many of these applications in Europe and Asia.
