Technologies

Regulations related to refrigerants aimed stagewise at their environmental impact:

• HCFCs were banned due to the impact on the ozone layer depletion (high ODP).
• HFCs feature ODP=0. But most contribute to the greenhouse effect.

Greenhouse effect is measured as Global Warming Potential (relative amount of heat trapped in the atmosphere due to the emission of a certain gas). Emissions of such F-gases are just the 2% of overall greenhouse sources in the European Union, but increased sharply since 1990.
The EU’s F-gas Regulation applies from 1 January 2015 with the purpose of cutting emissions by two-thirds compared to 2014.