![]() ![]() Greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction (Plausible Scenario): 89.74 gigatons (GT) of reduced CO2-equivalent (CO2-e - the common measure for all greenhouse gases) by 2050. Project Drawdown analysis includes emissions reductions that can be achieved through the management and destruction of refrigerants already in circulation. Green America resources: Get tips on reducing your need for air conditioning and saving energy at home in our article,“ Ten Easiest Ways to Cut Your Energy Use in Half.” Impact The Kigali Accord ensures a step change is coming, and other practices focused on existing stocks could reduce HFC emissions further. After being carefully removed and stored, refrigerants can be purified for reuse or transformed into other chemicals that do not cause warming. Refrigerants currently cause emissions throughout their life cycles, but 90 percent of emissions happen at disposal. According to the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, 700 million air conditioning units will have come online worldwide by 2030. Work to be done: The process of phasing out HFCs will unfold over many years, and they will persist in kitchens and condensing units in the meantime. Unlike the Paris Climate Agreement, the Kigali deal is mandatory, with specific targets and timetables. ![]() HFC substitutes are already on the market, including natural refrigerants such as propane and ammonia. Through an amendment to the Montreal Protocol, the world will begin phasing HFCs out of use, starting with high-income countries in 2019 and then expanding to low-income countries - some in 2024, others in 2028. Despite challenging global politics, they reached a remarkable agreement. Solutions in progress: In October 2016, officials from more than 170 countries gathered in Kigali, Rwanda, to negotiate a deal to address the problem of HFCs. Their replacement chemicals, primarily hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), have minimal deleterious effect on the ozone layer, but their capacity to warm the atmosphere is 1,000 to 9,000 times greater than that of carbon dioxide, depending on their exact chemical composition. Huge volumes of CFCs and HCFCs remain in circulation, retaining their potential for ozone damage. Refrigerants continue to cause planetary trouble, however. Now, three decades later, the ozone layer is beginning to heal. It took two short years from the discovery of the gaping hole over the Antarctic for the global community to adopt a legally mandated course of action. Thanks to the 1987 Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer, CFCs and HCFCs have been phased out of use. Refrigerants, specifically chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) and hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs), were once key culprits in depleting the stratospheric ozone layer, which is essential for absorbing the sun’s ultraviolet radiation. The problem: Every refrigerator, supermarket case, and air conditioner contains chemical refrigerants that absorb and release heat, making it possible to chill food and keep buildings and vehicles cool. For the other 90 solutions, we highly recommend you read Drawdown: the Most Comprehensive Plan Ever Proposed to Reverse Global Warming (Penguin Books, 2017), edited by Paul Hawken. Using the scenario that gets us to drawdown - which requires ramping up the solutions a bit more than the conservative measure, particularly renewable energy - they reduce or sequester carbon by 1,442 gigatons by 2050.īelow are the top ten solutions, ranked in terms of emissions reduction potential over a 30-year period. Together, all 80 reduce or sequester carbon by 1,051 gigatons by 2050 in the Plausible Scenario. Most prominently was that even when the solutions are modeled in terms of what they call a “Plausible Scenario” - a conservative measure of projected solution implementation that is “reasonable yet optimistic” - society still makes great strides toward achieving drawdown, the point where greenhouse-gas levels in the atmosphere begin to decline. But the data had some surprises in store. Paul Hawken and the Project Drawdown experts thought they knew what to expect when they modeled and ranked 80 solutions that could reverse global warming. This article originally appeared in Green American ’s Winter 2017 issue. ![]()
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