last updated 29th September 05
By 4ecotips

MIPIGGs calls for tougher regulation

A report from the Institute for European Environmental Policy for Greenpeace has said it would be cheaper to use hydrocarbons in small (domestic-type) fridges than to try and contain HFCs. In reaction, Friedrich Busch from the refrigeration industry group Epee (European Partnership for Energy and Environment) said the economic estimate ignored the recovery cost for hydrocarbons at the product's end of life, and that the estimate of emissions saved by hydrocarbon use was "considerably overstated".

MIPIGGs (Multisectoral Initiative on Potent Industrial Greenhouse Gasses) points out that this is a red herring. It says there is no legal requirement to recover hydrocarbons , unlike HFCs , so the cost does not arise. In the atmosphere HCs are not a noticeable cause of global warming, or a cause of ozone depletion, unlike HFCs and HCFCs or CFCs.

The IEEP/Greenpeace review follows the proposal by MEP Avril Doyle, to include a ban on HFCs in small fridges in the f-gas regulation, whose current draft is about to have its second reading in the European Parliament.

In a letter sent to MEPs about to debate the f-gas Regulation, MIPIGGs (http://www.mipiggs.org/) says the current draft needs to be 'strengthened'. Simply applying the Regulation as drafted would only stabilise emissions of HFCs at 1995 levels. Substitutes exist for all f-gas uses. The Regulation needs to require substitution and introduce bans on f-gas applications.