International. Global atmospheric measurements were used by H.A. Montzka et al. to investigate the effectiveness of the latest adjustments in HCFC production and consumption controls under the Montreal Protocol, and to assess recent projections of large increases in HFC production and emission.
The results show that aggregate global emissions of HCFCs did not increase markedly during 2007-2012 and suggest that the Adjustments to the 2007 Montreal Protocol played a role in limiting HCFC emissions long before the 2013 cap in global production. HCFC emissions ranged from 0.76 to 0.79 GtCO2-equivalent/year during this period.
Although the increase has been slower than projected in aggregate HCFC emissions since 2007, total HFC emissions used as substitutes for HCFCs and CFCs increased by 45% during 2007-2012 and by 2012 had reached 0.51 G (-0.03, +0.04) Gt of CO2-eq/year, a magnitude of about twice the emissions reported to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change ( Unfccc) for these HFCs.
Assuming accurate reporting to the UNFCCC, the results imply that developing countries (non-Annex I Parties) that did not report to the UNFCCC now account for almost 50 per cent of global HFC emissions used as substitutes for ozone-depleting substances.
The authors also estimate that the applications responsible for HFC emissions in 2012 can be divided into three equally contributing categories: mobile air conditioning, commercial refrigeration, and the sum of all other activities. Efforts to adopt low GWP alternatives, particularly for commercial air conditioning and refrigeration, have the potential to facilitate a significant reduction in CO2-equivalent HFC emissions.
