Emissions

Refrigerants are mostly gases, which means fluids that are gaseous at ambient temperatures around 20°C and at normal atmospheric pressure. Thus, it is obvious to think about emissions into the atmosphere. It is also obvious to assume, that there will be effects in the atmosphere, as this level of concentrations is not natural. These would be effects of direct emissions, like ozone depleting potential ODP or global warming potential GWP.

Using refrigerants in refrigeration systems has even more impact on environment, being more indirect: There are emissions of other substances during production, transport and via the energy consumption during the operational life time of the system. The evaluations can be extended to production of the refrigeration installation and its components, to maintenance, repair and disposal – going in direction of ecobalances.