Earlier this year, the United States and China agreed to work together with other countries to use the expertise and institutions of the Montreal Protocol to phase down consumption and production of hydrofluorocarbons.

The agreement paves the way for more use of ammonia as an eco-friendly alternative. “When you take HFCs out of the equation, the real opportunities for alternative refrigerants are going to be the natural refrigerants,” said Lowell Randel, IIAR Government Relations Director. “It’s going to be ammonia.”

“This isn’t going to happen overnight, but it is clear countries want to move toward climate-friendly, safe alternatives from HFCs that have high-global warming potential.”

Lowell Randel, IIAR Government Relations Director

To fully understand the agreement between the United States and China and its implications for the ammonia refrigeration industry, it is first necessary to explain the Montreal Protocol, said Randel. The Protocol, which was established in 1987, is an international treaty designed to facilitate a global approach to combat stratospheric ozone layer depletion. That approach has been extremely successful, as the use of major ozone-depleting substances, such as chlorofluorocarbons and hydrochlorofluorocarbons has greatly decreased over the past few decades. In fact, the Protocol has led to the reduction of over 98 percent of all global production and consumption of controlled ozone-depleting substances, according to the Multilateral Fund for the Implementation of the Montreal Protocol.

But reducing the use of HCFCs and CFCs has raised some new problems. A big one: The use of potentially harmful alternatives, such as HFCs, is increasing. Though HFCs do not deplete the ozone, they are greenhouse gasses that could contribute to global warming.

That’s where the agreement between the United States and China comes in. As noted, the agreement states that the two countries will work together with other countries to use the expertise and institutions of the Montreal Protocol to phase down hydrofluorocarbons.

“China’s agreement to get on board with the United States could spur more countries to follow suit,” said Randel, noting that a few countries, such as India and Brazil, have been holding back on agreeing to take steps to reduce HFCs. One reason is that they fear the negative effects phasing out HFCs could have on their economies, he said.

As more countries take steps to phase out HFCs, the ammonia refrigeration industry could experience positive effects, said Randel. “First and foremost, when you look at the phase-out of the R-22 refrigerant and other gases that were HCFS, you’re seeing ammonia and other natural refrigerants being used as the replacement refrigerants,” he said. “The same thing will happen with the HFC phase down.”

Still, as climate-friendly alternatives, such as ammonia refrigerants, grow in popularity, the shift away from HFCs will be a gradual one. “Countries are making progress toward agreement on a global phase-down of hydrofluorocarbons under the Montreal Protocol, and some countries are already taking domestic actions as well,” said John Thomson, Deputy Director of Environmental Quality and Transboundary Issues in the Bureau of Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs in the Department of State.

“This isn’t going to happen overnight, but it is clear countries want to move toward climate-friendly, safe alternatives from HFCs that have high-global warming potential.”

Randel predicts that less developed countries that rely heavily on HFCs will likely shift away from them more slowly, while more developed countries, some of which are already moving away from HFCs, will undergo a shorter transition.

“You’re already seeing, in particular, new facilities moving away from an HFC choice to a natural refrigerant choice,” said Randel. “You’re going to continue to see fewer and fewer of the new HFC facilities being built because these companies are going to say, ‘Do I want to take the risk of building an infrastructure that’s reliant on an HFC as the refrigerant? Or, do I want to take into account the Montreal Protocol and some of these policy changes?’ Ammonia is going to be there and the industry will step up and say, ‘Hey you want efficiency? You want economic viability? Use ammonia.’”