§ Mr. DrewTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what plans he has to phase out refrigerants with a high global warming potential. [135775]
§ Mr. MeacherA new EC Regulation (2037/2000) on the control of ozone depleting substances came into force on 1 October. Ozone depleting substances such as CFCs and HCFCs, most commonly used in refrigeration systems, also have a high global warming potential (GWP)—CFC 12 and HCFC 22 have GWPs of 8100 and 1500 respectively; for comparison the GWP of carbon dioxide is defined as 1. From 1 January 2001 there will be a ban on the use of CFCs to maintain existing refrigeration equipment. Also, the use of HCFCs as refrigerants will be banned in most new equipment from 1 January 2001.
Industry has replaced CFCs and HCFCs with a variety of alternative refrigerants—many with a low GWP. However, in some applications there are no suitable alternatives currently available other than HFC 134a, which has a high GWP (1300), but does not deplete the ozone layer. We announced in the draft Climate Change Programme how we intend to deal with the growth in use of HFCs. The policy gives industry and users a clear signal to look closely at all the alternatives and to use HFCs only where other safe, technically feasible, cost-effective and more environmentally acceptable alternatives do not exist. The final Programme is to be published shortly.