Get rid of the blind spot for "Refrigerant" management, the key to reducing greenhouse gases!
Author
admin
Date
2021-12-06 00:13
Views
681
Excluding the calculation of BAU to reduce refrigerant and greenhouse gas emissions.
Low pressure refrigerant below 20RT, blind spot for care,
It's urgent to introduce the F-Gas Comprehensive Management Act.
Refrigerants are substances that induce global warming and ozone layer destruction, with a greater impact on global warming 100 to 14,000 times than CO2 in the same amount, and more active management is needed to cope with climate change.
As the risk of global warming is recognized, refrigerants, a type of fluorine compound, should also be managed as substances that directly affect carbon emissions. Recognizing that most of the leaks will destroy the ozone layer or combine with oxygen in the air to generate more than 1,000 times more carbon dioxide per kg, the international community began regulating refrigerants with high global warming potential (ODP) in the 1990s. In the meantime, the world has begun to regulate CFC through Montreal's Protocol in 1989, HCFC with Kyoto's Protocol in 1997, and HFC with the recent revision of Kigali under the Paris Convention.
Except for developed countries where HFC regulation plans have been established and implemented, HCFC's withdrawal has not yet been completed and there is no regulation on HFC. As Korea is classified as a developing country and the regulatory schedule is delayed, even domestic companies do not feel the need to develop eco-friendly systems.
In particular, most equipment for refrigeration and refrigeration is mainly produced with HCFC refrigerants, and HFC refrigerants are recognized as new refrigerants and are now being converted to HFC. However, as small and medium-sized companies have not been implemented, it is urgent to prepare countermeasures.
Products using HFO, hydrocarbon, or natural refrigerants are being released on the market led by global manufacturers, an industry source said. "If this trend continues, the proportion of imported products from advanced countries in the freezing and refrigerating markets is expected to increase."
In the end, experts point out that failure to actively respond to global refrigerant regulation trends could lead to a situation in which the home market should be given to global companies, but the situation of domestic companies does not even have a foundation to respond to these concerns.
From the standpoint of the industry right now, the demand for conversion to alternative refrigerants could act as a crisis. For example, currently commercial refrigerant use devices in Korea are mainly manufactured by SMEs, and most of the commercial refrigerant use devices currently use HCFC-based refrigerants. However, if the refrigerant of these devices must be converted into a low-GWP HFO-based refrigerant rather than an HFC-based refrigerant, it could be a considerable burden on the industry.
This is because refrigerant use devices must also be developed according to the material characteristics of the refrigerant. In the end, the role of the Ministry of Industry has become very important so that refrigerant conversion can take place while reducing the burden on the industry.
It needs to be connected to refrigerant and BAU,
It has been consistently pointed out that refrigerant management needs to be viewed in connection with the national greenhouse gas reduction BAU (Business As User).
It is pointed out by experts related to refrigerants. Korea's promised carbon dioxide reduction to the international community is aimed at 37% of BAU by 2030. This is equivalent to about 580 million tons. When HFC and HCFC, which are imported and produced and applied in Korea, are combined, it is estimated to be about 35,000 to 40,000 tons, and when converted into CO2 tons, it is about 63 million tons. This is the volume that accounts for about 11% of the total reduction target of 580 million tons. Although it has a difficult reduction goal, unfortunately, the domestic reality is that refrigerants are not included in the BAU reduction.
Yoo Ki-chul, CEO of HONEYWELL PMT, said, "From a national perspective, it is clear that the figure can contribute to the CO2 reduction roadmap," adding, "For efficient environmental policy, it will have a positive effect to minimize the cost of converting regulatory substances in air conditioning areas such as chiller and air conditioner."
In particular, refrigerant management should be systematically organized and promoted with consistency through cooperation and cooperation with the international community in terms of comprehensive management of climate and ecosystem change materials. Quick maintenance of refrigerant management-related laws and regulations is urgent, and the introduction of a comprehensive management system such as the tentatively named "F-Gas Comprehensive Management Act" is more urgent than anything else.
An industry official claimed, "Like advanced countries, it is necessary to curb the conversion of GWP higher than existing HCFCs to HFCs by restricting GWP by use."
Seoul Metropolitan Government's Refrigerant Management Policy. "No have result and return?"
With the central government not disclosing such a clear "Refrigerant Management Roadmap" so far, the local government, the Seoul Metropolitan Government, has established a refrigerant management policy aimed at reducing greenhouse gases in line with international trends. This is the Seoul Metropolitan Government's "Seoul-type Refrigerant Management Master Plan Establishment Study" conducted in 2019. The study reflected a specific refrigerant management roadmap in the building and transportation sector, which will be carried out until 2045, targeting affiliated organizations in Seoul.
An official from Green Polaris, who performed the research service, said, "What I felt while performing the service is that there are many restrictions on implementing the will of local governments in the current situation where there is no legal and institutional basis for using low-GWP refrigerants."
According to the "Local Greenhouse Gas Emissions Calculation Guidelines (Korea Environment Corporation)," which is the standard for calculating local governments' greenhouse gas emissions, HFC refrigerant emissions are reported as the difference between HFC materials' imports and exports.
In addition, the import and export data for HFC-based substances are required to use the Korea International Trade Association's import and export trade statistics, which are compiled only for both HFC-134a and HFC-152a.
In other words, it is impossible to suggest a reduction in emissions according to "what kind of refrigerant and how much refrigerant is used" or a reduction in emissions based on emissions per population. Accordingly, there is no room to reflect the results of the implementation of local government reduction policies. Even if local governments want to be recognized for their reduction through external projects, most of their affiliated organizations in Seoul are designated as allocation companies or managed under the public sector target management system, so there are restrictions on promoting external projects due to organizational boundaries.
Air Conservation Act, get rid of blind spots!
On November 29, 2018, the Ministry of Environment implemented the Air Environment Conservation Act, which contains appropriate refrigerant management measures. The refrigerant use devices subject to management have been greatly expanded from existing air conditioners to refrigeration and industrial devices for food with a refrigeration capacity of 20 tons (20RT) or more per day. A new refrigerant recovery class was established to prevent unauthorized discharge of refrigerants and increase recovery rates.
In addition, the user of the refrigerant use device must check the condition and leakage of the refrigerant in operation, prepare a refrigerant management record, submit it to the Korea Environment Corporation, or enter the refrigerant management record into the refrigerant information management network (www.rims.or.kr). Refrigerant recovery was requested to a refrigerant recovery agent equipped with facilities and equipment. Refrigerant recovery technical personnel must receive new education and regular maintenance training.
However, the legal management target was limited to facilities that use high-pressure refrigerants with a refrigeration capacity of 20RT or higher on the 1st, and there is no separate regulation for low-pressure refrigerant facilities, resulting in a "cold refrigerant management blind spot."
An industry official pointed out, "There is a movement to install several equipment under 20RT in the new frozen air market and a preference for low-pressure refrigerants (R123), which are also known to be environmental destruction materials represented by R123, but they are leaving blind spots that cannot be managed by law." Another official in the industry added, "The Ministry of Environment says it will be supplemented through a follow-up legislative process, but no schedule is currently being presented to the field."
In addition, there is a market distortion phenomenon that does not match the purpose of strengthening legislation that minimizes leaks and increases recovery rates by stipulating a certain level of equipment and technical personnel as a refrigerant recovery qualification.
Critics point out that there is a problem with effective refrigerant recovery in the field as the performance standards of refrigerant recovery devices for refrigerant recovery classes are too relaxed. Some are concerned that there is an inherent possibility of conflict in the future as it is impossible to secure the minimum business size of licensees due to excessive license over the size of the refrigerant recovery market.
The current successful case of waste management can be referred to as waste home appliances and household waste disposal. Recycling centers are operated by 12 companies nationwide, mainly by mutual aid associations, and household waste disposal businesses are also divided into about 20 companies and managed by region, but as of December 2019, 397 refrigerant recovery businesses.
Refrigerant regeneration and disposal facilities are also controversial. The estimated amount of waste refrigerant generation is known to be around 30,000 tons per year, but only three companies nationwide (Bumseok Engineering, Advanced Environment, and Oun R2tech) are operating. This is because the size of the regeneration treatment facility is only 1,000 tons per year and the disposal is only 600 tons per two companies. In other words, the development of large-capacity waste refrigerant regeneration and disposal technology and discovery of participating companies are pending issues, and government support is urgently needed to foster related industries.
An industry official pointed out, "We need to urgently reorganize issued refrigerant recovery licenses and strengthen technical manpower standards to meet refrigerant recovery conditions so that there is no more illegal recovery situation."
Active policy support systems are urgently needed to raise awareness of the need for refrigerant management and induce participation in projects, and policies to expand refrigerant treatment facilities and encourage participation, such as closing old coal-fired power plants and fostering solar power, are needed as part of fine dust measures.
Some point out that by applying coefficients considering GWP and ODP, higher environmental taxes are imposed on substances with greater environmental destruction so that eco-friendly refrigerants can be selected. The collected environmental tax proposed a plan to develop eco-friendly refrigerant devices and to use them as a base for refrigerant recovery and disposal.
Reporter Kang Eunchul. eckang@kharn.kr
https://www.coldchainnews.kr/mobile/article.html?no=23184
Low pressure refrigerant below 20RT, blind spot for care,
It's urgent to introduce the F-Gas Comprehensive Management Act.
Refrigerants are substances that induce global warming and ozone layer destruction, with a greater impact on global warming 100 to 14,000 times than CO2 in the same amount, and more active management is needed to cope with climate change.
As the risk of global warming is recognized, refrigerants, a type of fluorine compound, should also be managed as substances that directly affect carbon emissions. Recognizing that most of the leaks will destroy the ozone layer or combine with oxygen in the air to generate more than 1,000 times more carbon dioxide per kg, the international community began regulating refrigerants with high global warming potential (ODP) in the 1990s. In the meantime, the world has begun to regulate CFC through Montreal's Protocol in 1989, HCFC with Kyoto's Protocol in 1997, and HFC with the recent revision of Kigali under the Paris Convention.
Except for developed countries where HFC regulation plans have been established and implemented, HCFC's withdrawal has not yet been completed and there is no regulation on HFC. As Korea is classified as a developing country and the regulatory schedule is delayed, even domestic companies do not feel the need to develop eco-friendly systems.
In particular, most equipment for refrigeration and refrigeration is mainly produced with HCFC refrigerants, and HFC refrigerants are recognized as new refrigerants and are now being converted to HFC. However, as small and medium-sized companies have not been implemented, it is urgent to prepare countermeasures.
Products using HFO, hydrocarbon, or natural refrigerants are being released on the market led by global manufacturers, an industry source said. "If this trend continues, the proportion of imported products from advanced countries in the freezing and refrigerating markets is expected to increase."
In the end, experts point out that failure to actively respond to global refrigerant regulation trends could lead to a situation in which the home market should be given to global companies, but the situation of domestic companies does not even have a foundation to respond to these concerns.
From the standpoint of the industry right now, the demand for conversion to alternative refrigerants could act as a crisis. For example, currently commercial refrigerant use devices in Korea are mainly manufactured by SMEs, and most of the commercial refrigerant use devices currently use HCFC-based refrigerants. However, if the refrigerant of these devices must be converted into a low-GWP HFO-based refrigerant rather than an HFC-based refrigerant, it could be a considerable burden on the industry.
This is because refrigerant use devices must also be developed according to the material characteristics of the refrigerant. In the end, the role of the Ministry of Industry has become very important so that refrigerant conversion can take place while reducing the burden on the industry.
It needs to be connected to refrigerant and BAU,
It has been consistently pointed out that refrigerant management needs to be viewed in connection with the national greenhouse gas reduction BAU (Business As User).
It is pointed out by experts related to refrigerants. Korea's promised carbon dioxide reduction to the international community is aimed at 37% of BAU by 2030. This is equivalent to about 580 million tons. When HFC and HCFC, which are imported and produced and applied in Korea, are combined, it is estimated to be about 35,000 to 40,000 tons, and when converted into CO2 tons, it is about 63 million tons. This is the volume that accounts for about 11% of the total reduction target of 580 million tons. Although it has a difficult reduction goal, unfortunately, the domestic reality is that refrigerants are not included in the BAU reduction.
Yoo Ki-chul, CEO of HONEYWELL PMT, said, "From a national perspective, it is clear that the figure can contribute to the CO2 reduction roadmap," adding, "For efficient environmental policy, it will have a positive effect to minimize the cost of converting regulatory substances in air conditioning areas such as chiller and air conditioner."
In particular, refrigerant management should be systematically organized and promoted with consistency through cooperation and cooperation with the international community in terms of comprehensive management of climate and ecosystem change materials. Quick maintenance of refrigerant management-related laws and regulations is urgent, and the introduction of a comprehensive management system such as the tentatively named "F-Gas Comprehensive Management Act" is more urgent than anything else.
An industry official claimed, "Like advanced countries, it is necessary to curb the conversion of GWP higher than existing HCFCs to HFCs by restricting GWP by use."
Seoul Metropolitan Government's Refrigerant Management Policy. "No have result and return?"
With the central government not disclosing such a clear "Refrigerant Management Roadmap" so far, the local government, the Seoul Metropolitan Government, has established a refrigerant management policy aimed at reducing greenhouse gases in line with international trends. This is the Seoul Metropolitan Government's "Seoul-type Refrigerant Management Master Plan Establishment Study" conducted in 2019. The study reflected a specific refrigerant management roadmap in the building and transportation sector, which will be carried out until 2045, targeting affiliated organizations in Seoul.
An official from Green Polaris, who performed the research service, said, "What I felt while performing the service is that there are many restrictions on implementing the will of local governments in the current situation where there is no legal and institutional basis for using low-GWP refrigerants."
According to the "Local Greenhouse Gas Emissions Calculation Guidelines (Korea Environment Corporation)," which is the standard for calculating local governments' greenhouse gas emissions, HFC refrigerant emissions are reported as the difference between HFC materials' imports and exports.
In addition, the import and export data for HFC-based substances are required to use the Korea International Trade Association's import and export trade statistics, which are compiled only for both HFC-134a and HFC-152a.
In other words, it is impossible to suggest a reduction in emissions according to "what kind of refrigerant and how much refrigerant is used" or a reduction in emissions based on emissions per population. Accordingly, there is no room to reflect the results of the implementation of local government reduction policies. Even if local governments want to be recognized for their reduction through external projects, most of their affiliated organizations in Seoul are designated as allocation companies or managed under the public sector target management system, so there are restrictions on promoting external projects due to organizational boundaries.
Air Conservation Act, get rid of blind spots!
On November 29, 2018, the Ministry of Environment implemented the Air Environment Conservation Act, which contains appropriate refrigerant management measures. The refrigerant use devices subject to management have been greatly expanded from existing air conditioners to refrigeration and industrial devices for food with a refrigeration capacity of 20 tons (20RT) or more per day. A new refrigerant recovery class was established to prevent unauthorized discharge of refrigerants and increase recovery rates.
In addition, the user of the refrigerant use device must check the condition and leakage of the refrigerant in operation, prepare a refrigerant management record, submit it to the Korea Environment Corporation, or enter the refrigerant management record into the refrigerant information management network (www.rims.or.kr). Refrigerant recovery was requested to a refrigerant recovery agent equipped with facilities and equipment. Refrigerant recovery technical personnel must receive new education and regular maintenance training.
However, the legal management target was limited to facilities that use high-pressure refrigerants with a refrigeration capacity of 20RT or higher on the 1st, and there is no separate regulation for low-pressure refrigerant facilities, resulting in a "cold refrigerant management blind spot."
An industry official pointed out, "There is a movement to install several equipment under 20RT in the new frozen air market and a preference for low-pressure refrigerants (R123), which are also known to be environmental destruction materials represented by R123, but they are leaving blind spots that cannot be managed by law." Another official in the industry added, "The Ministry of Environment says it will be supplemented through a follow-up legislative process, but no schedule is currently being presented to the field."
In addition, there is a market distortion phenomenon that does not match the purpose of strengthening legislation that minimizes leaks and increases recovery rates by stipulating a certain level of equipment and technical personnel as a refrigerant recovery qualification.
Critics point out that there is a problem with effective refrigerant recovery in the field as the performance standards of refrigerant recovery devices for refrigerant recovery classes are too relaxed. Some are concerned that there is an inherent possibility of conflict in the future as it is impossible to secure the minimum business size of licensees due to excessive license over the size of the refrigerant recovery market.
The current successful case of waste management can be referred to as waste home appliances and household waste disposal. Recycling centers are operated by 12 companies nationwide, mainly by mutual aid associations, and household waste disposal businesses are also divided into about 20 companies and managed by region, but as of December 2019, 397 refrigerant recovery businesses.
Refrigerant regeneration and disposal facilities are also controversial. The estimated amount of waste refrigerant generation is known to be around 30,000 tons per year, but only three companies nationwide (Bumseok Engineering, Advanced Environment, and Oun R2tech) are operating. This is because the size of the regeneration treatment facility is only 1,000 tons per year and the disposal is only 600 tons per two companies. In other words, the development of large-capacity waste refrigerant regeneration and disposal technology and discovery of participating companies are pending issues, and government support is urgently needed to foster related industries.
An industry official pointed out, "We need to urgently reorganize issued refrigerant recovery licenses and strengthen technical manpower standards to meet refrigerant recovery conditions so that there is no more illegal recovery situation."
Active policy support systems are urgently needed to raise awareness of the need for refrigerant management and induce participation in projects, and policies to expand refrigerant treatment facilities and encourage participation, such as closing old coal-fired power plants and fostering solar power, are needed as part of fine dust measures.
Some point out that by applying coefficients considering GWP and ODP, higher environmental taxes are imposed on substances with greater environmental destruction so that eco-friendly refrigerants can be selected. The collected environmental tax proposed a plan to develop eco-friendly refrigerant devices and to use them as a base for refrigerant recovery and disposal.
Reporter Kang Eunchul. eckang@kharn.kr
https://www.coldchainnews.kr/mobile/article.html?no=23184