VATIS UPDATE Article

Hydrocarbons have come up as a major contender for replacing HFCs in the current phase-down. Hydrocarbons are long-term refrigerants without any uncertainty with respect to emerging environmental regulations. These gases, in addition to having low-global warming potential (GWP), are also freely available and have higher energy efficiency than traditional f-gases. This means that in addition to the direct emissions from HFCs, a switch to hydrocarbons will also save on indirect emissions from the high energy efficiency offered by these refrigerants.

In order to address the restrictive nature of the safety standards, the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) organised a workshop on developing appropriate safety standards for hydrocarbon refrigerants in the RAC sector on April 26-27. The workshop brought together experts from all over the world working in the field of Refrigeration and Air-conditioning (RAC). These experts came together to articulate the specific issues that need to be addressed in order to develop an Indian standards (BIS) for use of hydrocarbons in RAC sector.

The workshop included presentations on the current state of international negotiations and the benefits from the use of hydrocarbon-based refrigerants, barriers to switching from f-gas to hydrocarbon-based RAC systems in India and the international state of standards and changes needed for wide scale implementation of hydrocarbon refrigerants in India. The presentations were followed by breakout sessions, where the changes needed in the international standards were discussed and articulated.