Cool Humans, Hot Earth? HFCs: The Paradox of Artificial Refrigerants Fueling the Climate Crisis
About
Non-CO2 greenhouse gases with high global warming potentials (GWP) are attracting growing attention from policymakers to prevent global temperatures from rising 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels. Among these, hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs)—one of the fluorinated greenhouse gases (F-gases)—have GWPs of up to 12,400 times that of carbon dioxide and are used principally as refrigerants for air conditioning, and more recently, in the cooling of data centers that sustain artificial intelligence (AI) systems.
However, HFCs suffer from poor public awareness in South Korea and their management has so far been overlooked by government policymakers. Although South Korea is required to reduce HFCs emissions by 80% by 2045 under the Kigali Amendment, HFCs emissions have been increasing year on year. In addition, South Korea’s HFCs-related laws and regulations only address certain product groups and only apply to certain stages of the products' lifecycle, hence making it difficult to manage their emissions in an integrated manner. This may result in slower domestic reductions compared to other East Asian countries, such as Japan and China.
This report analyzes the current state of policies related to HFCs in the Republic of Korea and at the same time seeks to enhance the overall understanding of HFCs to the public. It examines international agreements vis-à-vis HFCs, the current status of emissions and management systems in South Korea, and analyzes the South Korean government’s recently announced “Roadmap For Improved Management of HFCs with the Goal of Greenhouse Gas Reductions” in order to propose concrete policy recommendations to reduce domestic HFCs emissions, and to improve their management.
Executive summary
The international legal regime to regulate hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) has its basis in the Montreal Protocol, which is considered to be the world's most successful environmental treaty. In 1987, the Montreal Protocol banned the use of substances that deplete the ozone layer (i.e. CFCs, and later HCFCs) and mandated the transition to alternative substances. In 2016, the Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol added HFCs, which have global warming potentials of up to 12,400 times that of carbon dioxide, to the list of substances to be regulated. Signatories, including South Korea, are responsible for phasing down HFCs, similar to how CFCs and HCFCs were gradually phased out from 1987 onwards.
HFCs, which are mainly used as refrigerants in HVACR systems, are estimated to be among the fastest-growing of the seven major greenhouse gases due to increased global demand for cooling systems. This is because refrigerants are used not only in air conditioners and refrigerators but also in systems that cool the heat of data centers, which are currently fueling the growth of the artificial intelligence (AI) industry. Globally, HFCs use is growing by an average of 10-15% per year.
South Korea is the world's fifth-largest producer of refrigeration and air-conditioning equipment, and more than 95% of all refrigerant products used in the country are either HFC-based or HCFC-based. Under the Kigali Amendment, South Korea must achieve its goal of reducing HFCs by 80% by 2045 compared to the average consumption level between 2020 to 2022. However, emissions from HFCs have been increasing year on year, and HFCs emissions have recently become the main cause of the increase in overall national emissions.
For South Korea to achieve the Kigali Amendment reduction targets for HFCs, a system that effectively manages emissions during the end-of-life recovery and disposal stage of refrigerants is essential, along with the rapid and systematic transition to alternative substances, which must be implemented as soon as possible. The South Korean government needs to proactively introduce a system that will incentivize the domestic HVACR industry to transition to natural refrigerants, as well as prevent blind spots and gaps in responsibility throughout the lifecycle management of refrigerants.
In addition, the government should support the collection of comprehensive emissions statistics by product group and by lifecycle stage to progress towards using Tier 2 IPCC methodology for HFCs, as well as consider enacting a comprehensive new law that can effectively manage all fluorinated greenhouse gases (F-gases).