On Tuesday 5 April, the European Commission adopted two new proposals for EU regulations under the ‘Green Deal’, one on fluorinated greenhouse gases (F-gases) and the other on ozone-depleting substances (ODS).
The aim is to reduce emissions of these gases and substances, most of which have a global warming potential (GWP) several times higher than that of carbon dioxide (CO2), and thus to combat climate change.
The European Commission estimates that the two proposals will lead to an additional reduction in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions up to 2050 of 490 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent in total (310 million tonnes for the F-Gas proposal and 180 million tonnes for the ODS proposal). This corresponds approximately to the total GHG emissions reported by France in 2019 (436 million tonnes).
Fluorinated gases
F-gases are used in chemical processes and in many types of products and equipment.
Hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), which account for about 90% of F-gas emissions, are for example mainly used as refrigerants in refrigerators, freezers, air conditioners and heat pumps, as propellants in asthma sprays and technical aerosol cans, in fire extinguishers and as blowing agents for foams.
Other fluorinated gases that also represent significant emissions, such as perfluorocarbons (PFCs), sulphur hexafluoride (SF6), and nitrogen trifluoride (NF3), are commonly used in industrial manufacturing processes and, in the case of SF6, for power line insulation.
Emissions of these gases currently account for 2.5% of total EU GHG emissions.
While emissions doubled between 1990 and 2014, they began to fall after 2014 at EU level, following the entry into force of the current EU emissions regulation (517/2014). They fell by 6% in 2019, according to the European Commission.
Thus, the measures established under this regulation to reduce emissions of fluorinated gases “are not called into question in the current proposal”, says the new text presented by the European Commission.
Globally, however, F-gases are among the fastest growing GHGs, mainly due to the growing demand for refrigeration and air conditioning.
The European Commission’s proposal for a regulation (repealing Regulation 517/2014) therefore provides for an HFC quota system for producers and importers to severely restrict the future supply of HFCs to the EU market, while at the same time providing a strong economic incentive to switch to climate-friendly alternatives for the sectors concerned.
In addition, the European Commission proposes to phase out fluorinated gases completely in certain sectors.
In particular, the text provides for the phasing out of SF6 - the GHG with the highest global warming potential - in new electrical equipment from 2031. A date that the NGO ECOS considers to be far too distant.
“By 2031, electricity grids will have grown considerably due to our urgent need to electrify sectors such as transport and heating - and these grids must be clean”, said Luka De Bruyckere, programme manager at ECOS, while stressing that alternatives are already available today in many cases.
The European Commission’s proposal also updates a number of obligations for companies, such as the implementation of best practices, leak detection, record keeping, training of service personnel and proper waste treatment.
It also proposes standards for Member State sanctions to discourage illegal trade in F-gases.
In addition, the institution wants to strengthen the existing monitoring and verification systems to ensure compliance with the ‘Montreal Protocol’.
Adopted in 1987, this international agreement initially aimed to eliminate ODS in order to protect the ozone layer. It was then complemented by the Kigali Amendment (which came into force in 2019) calling for a phase-down of hydrofluorocarbons.
The European Commission thus proposes to remove certain exemptions and thresholds from the current regulation that are not included in the Montreal Protocol, for example by banning trade in HFCs with countries that are not parties to the Protocol.
ODS
For ODS, production, use and trade are already largely prohibited.
The few substances that are still permitted are used as fire protection agents in special applications; for example, on board aircraft and in analytical laboratories.
However, ODS emissions may occur in the coming decades as some insulating foams (in the building sector) in which ODS were formerly used as blowing agents reach the end of their life.
The second proposal, repealing EU Regulation 1005/2009, therefore has the main objective of preventing ODS emissions from hitherto legal applications in products and equipment.
It includes, for example, measures for the mandatory recovery or destruction of ODS from some of these foams during the renovation and demolition of buildings.
Strengthening import controls
In addition, both proposals include clearer requirements for action by customs authorities in the case of imports and exports of F-gases, ODS, and related products and equipment containing them.
They include an obligation for importers to provide additional information to make automatic customs controls possible, as well as rules on inspections and seizure of goods. Finally, sanctions for breaches of the rules would be further harmonised between the different EU Member States and would be made more dissuasive.
See the proposal on F-gases: https://aeur.eu/f/14a
See the proposal on ODS: https://aeur.eu/f/14b (Original version in French by Damien Genicot)