Editing Refrigerant (section)

=== Addressing greenhouse gases ===
With growing interest in [[natural refrigerant]]s as alternatives to synthetic refrigerants such as CFCs, HCFCs and HFCs, in 2004, [[Greenpeace]] worked with multinational corporations like [[Coca-Cola]] and [[Unilever]], and later [[PepsiCo|Pepsico]] and others, to create a corporate coalition called Refrigerants Naturally!.<ref name="ecomall.com" /><ref>{{cite web|title=PepsiCo Brings First Climate-Friendly Vending Machines to the U.S.|url=http://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zhtml?c=78265&p=irol-newsArticle&ID=1270984&highlight=|access-date=8 June 2015|website=phx.corporate-ir.net}}</ref> Four years later, Ben & Jerry's of Unilever and General Electric began to take steps to support production and use in the U.S.<ref>{{cite web|title=Climate-Friendly Greenfreezers Come to the United States|date=2 October 2008 |url=http://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/green/Climate-Friendly_Greenfreezers_Come_to_the_United_States.html|access-date=8 June 2015|publisher=WNBC}}</ref> It is estimated that almost 75 percent of the refrigeration and air conditioning sector has the potential to be converted to natural refrigerants.<ref name=":13">{{Cite press release|last=Data|first=Reports and|date=7 August 2020|title=Natural Refrigerants Market To Reach USD 2.88 Billion By 2027 {{!}} Reports and Data|url=http://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2020/08/07/2074791/0/en/Natural-Refrigerants-Market-To-Reach-USD-2-88-Billion-By-2027-Reports-and-Data.html|access-date=17 December 2020|website=GlobeNewswire News Room}}</ref>

In 2006, the EU adopted a Regulation on [[fluorinated gases|fluorinated greenhouse gases]] (FCs and HFCs) to encourage to transition to natural refrigerants (such as hydrocarbons). It was reported in 2010 that some refrigerants are being used as [[Recreational drug use|recreational drugs]], leading to an extremely dangerous phenomenon known as [[inhalant abuse]].<ref>Harris, Catharine. "Anti-inhalant Abuse Campaign Targets Building Codes: 'Huffing’ of Air Conditioning Refrigerant a Dangerous Risk." The Nation's Health. American Public Health Association, 2010. Web. 5 December 2010. https://www.thenationshealth.org/content/39/4/20</ref>

From 2011 the European Union started to phase out refrigerants with a [[global warming potential]] (GWP) of more than 150 in automotive air conditioning (GWP = 100-year warming potential of one kilogram of a gas relative to one kilogram of CO<sub>2</sub>) such as the refrigerant [[HFC-134a]] (known as R-134a in North America) which has a GWP of 1526.<ref name="ar6">{{Harvnb|IPCC AR6 WG1 Ch7|2021|p=}}</ref> In the same year the EPA decided in favour of the ozone- and climate-safe refrigerant for U.S. manufacture.<ref name="greenpeace.org" /><ref>{{cite web|url= http://www.greenpeace.org/usa/en/campaigns/global-warming-and-energy/green-solutions/greenfreeze/ |title=GreenFreeze|work=Greenpeace}}</ref><ref name="epa.gov">{{cite web|url= https://www.epa.gov/snap/substitutes-household-refrigerators-and-freezers |title=Significant New Alternatives Program: Substitutes in Household Refrigerators and Freezers|website=Epa.gov|date=13 November 2014|access-date=4 June 2018}}</ref>

A 2018 study by the nonprofit organization "[[Drawdown (climate)|Drawdown]]" put proper refrigerant management and disposal at the very top of the list of climate impact solutions, with an impact equivalent to eliminating over 17 years of US carbon dioxide emissions.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/2019/04/disposing-old-cfcs-refrigerants-reduces-climate-change-greenhouse-gases-cheaply/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190429113314/https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/2019/04/disposing-old-cfcs-refrigerants-reduces-climate-change-greenhouse-gases-cheaply/|url-status=dead|archive-date=April 29, 2019|title=One overlooked way to fight climate change? Dispose of old CFCs.|last=Berwald|first=Juli|date=29 April 2019|website=[[National Geographic]] - Environment|access-date=30 April 2019}}</ref>

In 2019 it was estimated that CFCs, HCFCs, and HFCs were responsible for about 10% of direct [[radiative forcing]] from all long-lived anthropogenic greenhouse gases.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.esrl.noaa.gov/gmd/aggi/aggi.html |title=The NOAA Annual Greenhouse Gas Index (AGGI) |publisher=[[NOAA]] Global Monitoring Laboratory/Earth System Research Laboratories |author=Butler J. and Montzka S. |year=2020 }}</ref> and in the same year the [[UNEP]] published new voluntary guidelines,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.unenvironment.org/news-and-stories/story/new-guidelines-air-conditioners-and-refrigerators-set-tackle-climate-change|title=New guidelines for air conditioners and refrigerators set to tackle climate change|last=Environment|first=U. N.|date=31 October 2019|website=UN Environment|language=en|access-date=30 March 2020}}</ref> however many countries have not yet ratified the [[Kigali Amendment]].

From early 2020 HFCs (including R-404A, R-134a, and R-410A) are being superseded: Residential air-conditioning systems and heat pumps are increasingly using [[Difluoromethane|R-32]]. This still has a GWP of more than 600. Progressive devices use refrigerants with almost no climate impact, namely R-290 (propane), R-600a (isobutane), or [[R-1234yf]] (less flammable, in cars). In commercial refrigeration also {{CO2}} (R-744) can be used.