California Air Resources Board

Principal Investigator/Author: Christina Starr

Contractor: Environmental Investigation Agency

Contract number: 23RD021

Project Status: Active

Relevant CARB programs: AB 32 Climate Change Scoping Plan

Topic areas: Climate Change, Greenhouse Gas Emission Inventory Program,

Research Summary:

The Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) will collect data to develop a first-of-its-kind life-cycle emissions inventory for refrigerants and use this data to develop a modeling tool that can quantify, analyze, and compare the total lifecycle emissions of various virgin and reclaimed refrigerants within a given sectoral application. The inventory and modeling outputs will be accompanied by a qualitative analytical framework to qualify and inform the use of the tool and its application to policy interventions.  This project will cover various refrigerants, including key hydrofluorocarbons (HFC), hydrofluoroolefins (HFO), and other alternatives such as non-fluorinated or natural refrigerants. 

The research team aims to enhance policy making on mitigation of HFC and other fluorinated gases used as refrigerants through an improved understanding and analytical framework to assess the full life-cycle emissions impact of commonly used refrigerants and their alternatives. This includes both newly produced and reclaimed substances that have been recovered and undergone processing for reuse. The global warming potential (GWP) metric, while important, is limited in the understanding it provides of the total climate impacts of refrigerants. 

Project results will help quantify the emission reductions of the use of reclaimed refrigerant vs. virgin refrigerant to meet California's climate goals set by Senate Bill (SB) 32, SB 1383, and Assembly Bill (AB) 1279. It will also provide policymakers with tools to gain a far more comprehensive understanding of the total climate benefits of transitioning to lower-GWP fluorinated molecules when compared with other alternatives, or with reclaimed refrigerants. Gaining the capacity to accurately quantify the outcomes of various regulatory measures or incentives is important to ensure alignment with outcomes most likely to minimize life-cycle emissions and achieve net-zero emission targets. 

Keywords: emissions inventory, hydrofluorocarbons, HFC, hydrofluoroolefins, HFO, refrigerants, fluorinated gases, life-cycle emissions, refrigerant alternatives, global warming potential, GWP, climate impacts, SB 32, AB1279, reclaimed refrigerants, zero emission targets