This paper documents that air conditioners sold in Brazil and most other A5 Parties have far lower energy efficiency than the products sold by the same companies in developed countries (non-A5 Parties). The study is original and unique because a certification laboratory contrasts the energy performance of brands for the same size ductless mini-split room air conditioners.
Like other studies, this paper shows that the added cost of higher efficiency would be rapidly paid back to residential AC owners in lower electricity costs, and that clean air, health, and agricultural co-benefits of energy efficiency are in the national and global interest. Like other studies, this paper shows residential AC buyers are being more influenced by purchase price without proper consideration of higher ownership costs and global environmental damage avoided by higher energy efficiency.
Unlike other studies that try to encourage self-interest with labelling, this paper investigates more comprehensively the special circumstances of the Brazilian market situation and recommends: 1) accelerated top-down revision of current minimum energy performance standards (MEPS), and 2) accelerated local manufacture of inverter compressors with superior energy efficiency for lower-global warming potential (GWP) refrigerants.
In addition, this paper recommends an investment strategy for government organizations in Brazil that: 1) sets the MEPS at the level justified by electricity savings plus social co-benefits, 2) procures residential ACs on the basis of Life Cycle Climate Performance (LCCP), 3) finances the added cost in the first year for low-GWP ACs with superior energy efficiency, and 4) finances the higher cost of superior energy efficiency and low GWP in subsequent years from the savings in electricity that accrue over the life of the superior ACs.
Finally, this paper makes the case for voluntary government/industry partnerships to orchestrate the transition from ACs using high-GWP refrigerants with poor energy efficiency to superior energy efficiency ACs using lower-GWP refrigerants.
Note: This paper, along with a PowerPoint presentation, was presented in July 2016 at a Side Event during the Resumed Session of the 37th Meeting of the Open-Ended Working Group (OEWG 37 & 38) and 3rd Extraordinary Meeting of the Parties to the Montreal Protocol, which was a pivotal moment for the Kigali HFC Phasedown Amendment and Kigali Energy Efficiency Decision, which was adopted 15 October 2016 in Rwanda. The paper and PowerPoint presentation from the Side Event were lost from UNEP’s website, so we updated our author’s copy with replacement of links that had expired and with paragraph reformatting.
This paper makes the case that faster phasedown of hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) to help avert nearterm climate tipping points will be less costly than the existing schedule for both non-Article 5 and Article 5 Parties. In particular, the paper demonstrates that a faster HFC phasedown is less costly for: 1) non-Article 5 donors to the Multilateral Fund for the Implementation of the Montreal Protocol (MLF); 2) new owners of cooling equipment who will benefit from lower cooling and service costs that offset the slightly higher purchase price for which the cost difference can be minimized by a bulk procurement or buyer’s club; 3) neighbourhoods and cities that will experience reduced pollution from fossil fuel power plants, leading to lower health care costs and increased productivity; 4) families and communities who will benefit from electricity savings spent locally on goods and services that support quality of life and prosperity and circulate through the economy; and 5) national governments that will incur lower compliance costs for stratospheric ozone and climate treaty obligations and will fiscally benefit from an improved balance of payments and lower interest rates on borrowing for renewable energy and other public investments. The paper also makes the case that accelerating the HFC phasedown can be less costly to manufacturers of HFC replacement technology through enhancements to brand reputation; environmental, social, and governance (ESG) ranking; and fulfilment of public pledges.
Additionally, the paper finds that lifecycle refrigerant management (LRM) supports the case for a faster phasedown of HFCs, which avoids unnecessary sales of cooling equipment with obsolete HFC refrigerants that requires servicing, and prevents perverse incentives that unintentionally prolong the use of high-global warming potential (GWP) HFCs.
Note: The authors thank readers for their crowd-sourced peer review and particularly for suggestions of elaboration. The paper has been submitted for publication in an open-access journal and will be back on the IGSD website as soon as published.
The framework, introduced in 2009 by co-author Professor Johan Rockström and colleagues, defines Planetary Boundaries as the safe operating thresholds for nine critical processes that maintain Earth system stability and resilience. The stratospheric ozone layer is one of the nine processes, and it is highlighted as the first and only example of a planetary system imperiled by humans yet pulled back towards health in the coming decades by collective action of scientists, consumer boycotts, public policy, and technical innovation. This paper explains how policymakers, facing an existential risk from fluorocarbon emissions, listened to science and acted at a global level with adoption of the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer (Montreal Protocol) that, along with complementary actions by citizen and corporate leaders, avoided health and environmental hazards of stratospheric ozone depletion. The paper also explains how the Montreal Protocol has delayed climate tipping points through:
1) the phaseout of ozone-depleting substances (ODSs) that are also powerful greenhouse gases (GHGs),
2) the ongoing phasedown of non-ozone-depleting hydrofluorocarbon (HFC) GHGs, and;
3) the associated protection of aquatic and terrestrial carbon sinks from ultraviolet (UV) radiation.
The Montreal Protocol is proof that humans can organize to protect the global commons against exceeding planetary boundaries. The paper shows how it is possible to restore the health of other planetary boundaries beyond stratospheric ozone and climate by using the Montreal Protocol’s successful model of trusted scientific and technical wisdom, deep human connections, and a commitment to fairness.
Includes a Case Study of MAC Secondary-Loop Architecture Vital to Economic and Environmental Performance of All-Electric Vehicles.
This publication offers the back and front story, the timeline, and the comprehensive bibliography of leadership in the full spectrum of environmentally improved motor vehicle air conditioning, including ozone-safe and climate-friendly refrigerants, leak-tight systems, repair before recharge with recovery and recycle, energy efficiency, and end-of-life recovery and recycle or destruction. It also elaborates on the partnerships that developed secondary-loop motor vehicle air conditioning (SL-MAC), which is a powerful driver of improved performance of all-electric vehicles that are necessary to avoid climate tipping points. The co-authors are insiders to this technical breakthrough.
SL-MAC technology developed through collaboration between government and industry is almost patent-free and is easily adaptable to the special circumstances of passenger and commercial vehicles, small or large, on-road or off-road, and internal combustion, hybrid, or all-electric.
The IGSD Resource Guide on Preventing the Dumping of Inefficient Cooling Equipment provides information and resources for government representatives and their advisors, researchers, academics, non-profit, philanthropic and other nongovernmental organizations, and other citizens to understand the practice of environmentally harmful dumping of new but energy-inefficient cooling equipment that uses high global-warming-potential refrigerants. The Resource Guide also provides insights for those working in other product areas, such as heavy-duty vehicles, involving environmentally harmful product dumping in vulnerable developing countries.
The Global Cooling Watch report, Keeping it Chill: How to meet cooling demands while cutting emissions – by the UN Environment Programme-led Cool Coalition – lays out sustainable cooling measures in three areas: passive cooling, higher-energy efficiency standards, and a faster phase down of climate-warming refrigerants. The report is released in support of the Global Cooling Pledge, a joint initiative between the United Arab Emirates as host of COP28 and the Cool Coalition.
IGSD Chief Scientist Dr. Gabrielle Dreyfus served as the lead topical author of the chapter on refrigerants.
This paper reviews MLF accomplishments, summarizes TEAP assessment of funding required to replenish MLF, and offers analyses of the benefits that could be achieved with more funding.
In an effort to provide insight into six Southeast Asian (SEA) markets at risk of environmental dumping, CLASP and IGSD assessed the RAC markets for Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam. The six countries represent 90% of the regional SEA market.
Currently energy efficiency policies in Southeast Asia lag behind the innovation in RAC technology and the policies of surrounding countries. As low-efficiency and high global warming potential refrigerants are banned in markets around the world, SEA is at risk of becoming a dumping ground for obsolete appliances manufactured by multinational companies that are banned in their own domestic markets. Rolling out and enforcing national energy efficiency policies coupled with accompanying measures would halt this trend.
