The EU is serious about reining in the release of gases that contribute to global warming. As of Jan. 1, 2011, air-conditioning systems for all new European-made vehicles must begin the switch to a refrigerant other than the current formulation, known as R134a.
If there is a familiar ring to this development, it's because the predecessor of R134a was itself banned for environmental reasons.
While the effects on the earth's atmosphere are different this time, the scramble by automakers to comply seems every bit as urgent.
Air-conditioning makes use of the cooling effect that occurs when a gas is allowed to suddenly expand, familiar to some from the barroom trick of cooling drinks with a blast of carbon dioxide from a fire extinguisher. This effect can be prolonged using a suitable refrigerant gas, so long as the power to pump it around in a loop of compressors and radiators is maintained.
In wide use for little more than a decade, the shortcoming of R134a is revealed by a standard measurement called the Global Warming Potential, established to compare other gases with the most plentiful greenhouse gas, carbon dioxide.
The warming potential of R134a refrigerant is 1,410, meaning that the release of 1 gram of R134a would have the same global warming effect as releasing 1,410 grams of carbon dioxide. The warming number of Freon-12, the common auto refrigerant used into the 1990s, is 8,500.
In an interesting twist, the leading alternative refrigerant being considered by European automakers is carbon dioxide.
But it's hard to make real sense of the blizzard of reports on refrigerants and their performances. The German automakers' association has endorsed carbon dioxide, which not only has the baseline warming number of 1 but is also at least 20 percent more energy-efficient than the best systems using R134a, supporters say.
In the US, the problem will be eliminating regulatory barriers for European autos using alternative refrigerants -- so they can be sold there. Aside from that issue, it might be tempting to let the Europeans go their own way. In the so-called Vermont ruling last September, a federal judge decided that individual states may specify exhaust emissions limits that are stricter than those set by the US Environmental Protection Agency.
In California, the Air Resources Board is calling for a 30 percent reduction in carbon dioxide emissions by 2016, and Vermont said it also wanted the reduction. Because 5.5 percent of the fuel burned by the US auto fleet drives air-conditioning systems, alternative refrigerants would provide a benefit even in the US.
The EU's action reflects changing environmental priorities since 1983, when it was discovered that something was attacking the earth's ozone layer, the protective wrap in the atmosphere that absorbs ultraviolet radiation from the sun.
If the notorious "ozone hole" above the southern polar region continued to expand, scientists said, the ultraviolet radiation would harm living things beyond just hapless penguins.
Earlier it had been shown that the element chlorine could act as a catalyst in the atmospheric chemical reactions that destroy ozone. Where was this chlorine coming from? The research pointed at chlorofluorocarbons, synthetic compounds widely used as refrigerants, spray-can propellants and blowing agents for molding foam. An international agreement -- the Montreal Protocol -- soon called for phase-out of these chlorine compounds.
New cars sold in much of the world since this agreement have used R134a refrigerant in their climate-control systems. It is a hydrofluorocarbon, which contains no chlorine. In the years since the ban of refrigerants containing chlorine, the ozone hole has receded.
In the US, the leading alternative seems to be R152a, with a warming potential of 120-140. Yet adopting this or another proposed blend is not simple.
Refrigerants containing chlorine were inert and nontoxic because of the bond strength of the fluorine and chlorine in their molecules. But when hydrogen replaces chlorine, the molecules become less stable; R152a is regarded as slightly flammable.
There are also economic issues. Last year, the European air-conditioning market was worth about US$7 billion; chemical makers want the replacement to be a product they can patent, and sell with a trademark.
The R152a alternative represents a 90 percent reduction of global warming potential compared with R134a. In addition, it is promoted as a direct replacement for R134a, requiring minimal mechanical changes to the air-conditioner.
But there are other problems: Some refrigerants are incompatible with the lubricants used in air-conditioning compressors, and carbon dioxide systems operate at pressures five times that of today's systems, requiring heavy-duty hardware.
Joerg Schernikau, a vice president at Behr America, an air-conditioning supplier, said his company would most likely develop both European and US refrigerants.
"That's what we assume right now," he said, noting that Audi, BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Porsche and Volkswagen had recently chosen carbon dioxide.
At Denso, the large Japanese auto parts manufacturer, Miwa Kurokawa, said that while manufacturers did not set the direction of global environmental planning, Denso intended to meet all regulations.
Can there be any other choice in a globalizing world that still lacks globalized standards?
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