India to eliminate use of HFC-23 by 2030

Taking the lead on tackling climate change, India on Thursday said it will eliminate the use of HFC-23, a greenhouse gas that harms the ozone layer, by 2030.

The announcement came at a meeting of parties to the Montreal Protocol at Kigali in Rwanda where final negotiations are taking place to substantially reduce the use of HFCs (hydrofluorocarbons) by 2030. The Montreal Protocol, which came into force in 1989, is aimed at reducing the production and consumption of ozone depleting substances in order to protect the earth’s fragile ozone layer.

HFC-23, a potent greenhouse gas with global warming potential of 14,800 times more than that of CO2, is a by-product of HCFC-22, which is used in industrial refrigeration. HCFC stands for hydrochloroflurocarbon.

Anil Madhav Dave, minister of state for environment, forests and climate change, who is leading the Indian team, has “given the go-ahead for releasing the order for incinerating the HFC–23 by producers of HCFC–22 gas,” according to an official statement.

Dave clarified that companies have to internalize the cost of this environmental externality and create sufficient storage facility to take care of down time and run the incinerators to ensure that HFC-23 is not released in the atmosphere. Read more…