Hydrochlorofluorocarbons and hydrofluorocarbons are made out of carbon, hydrogen, chlorine, and fluorine. They are made out of the derivates of methane, ethane, and propane. This means that both of these chemicals are man-made. It means that this gas is released into the atmosphere entirely by humans and doesn’t occur naturally. At room temperature, they are in gas form. These gases are used in air conditioning and also in refrigerants. HFC is the most commonly used refrigerant. Before HFC, people used chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), but CFC was stronger and it thinned the ozone layer, so in order to restore the ozone layer, people started to use HFC. CFC usage was cancelled with the Montreal Protocol, and now the HCFC is also in the process of being cancelled. These gases are commonly called Freons. You can also find freons in propellants (aerosols), gaseous fire suppression systems, and solvents. Freons (HFC and HCFC) themselves don’t harm the ozone layer as the chemicals they replace, but they are still causing global warming. Other freons or fluorinate gases are hydrofluorocarbons, perfluorocarbons, sulfur hexafluoride, and nitrogen triflouride. All these gases are emitted into the atmosphere not only from our households but also from commercial and industrial applications and processes.

The amount of freon that is emitted into the atmosphere is really small, but their global warming potential is thousands or even tens of thousands higher than CO2. Freons linger in the atmosphere for around 15 years. But there are some freons that can linger in the atmosphere for up to a thousand years. Fluorine gases are only removed from the atmosphere when sunlight destroys them. Overall, these gases have the biggest warming potential out of all the other greenhouse gases, and they stay in the atmosphere the longest. People started to use HFCs in the early 1990s, and their amount in the atmosphere is rather small. At the same time, their growth rate compared to the other greenhouse gases is the fastest. For example, in the United States, the increase in fluorine gases has been 105% between 1990 and 2021.

The Montreal Protocol has practical measures in place to ensure its implementation. These measures include agreements on technologies to destroy HFCs and new requirements and tools for reporting data. If the amendment receives full support, it could prevent up to 0.4°C of global warming in this century. At the same time, it will continue to safeguard the ozone layer. This significant contribution aligns with the objectives of the Paris Agreement.

In conclusion, the usage of freons, especially HPC, has been growing by 10% each year. The reason for this is global warming. The temperatures are getting higher, and we want to cool down our houses, but yet again, by doing that, we add more greenhouse gases to the atmosphere. Cooling equipment is responsible for producing more climate emissions due to its excessive energy usage. In the year 2021, space cooling alone accounted for almost 16% of the total electricity consumed in the building sector. Usually the HFCs are captured in specific ways, if you use them correctly, most of the HFCs will be released. That means the emissions of HFC are mostly the result of wrong usage or leakage at the end of the product’s lifetime. Luckily, more than 140 countries have agreed to the amendment of the Montreal Protocol. By agreeing to produce fewer HFCs, they will use more than 80% of all existing HFCs in the next 30 years, so by doing so, they are trying to avoid more than 70 billion metric tons of CO2 equivalent emissions by 2050.

Sources:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydrofluorocarbon
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chlorofluorocarbon
https://www.epa.gov/ghgemissions/overview-greenhouse-gases
https://www.ccacoalition.org/short-lived-climate-pollutants/hydrofluorocarbons-hfcs
https://www.epa.gov/ghgemissions/overview-greenhouse-gases