The Environmental Impact of R134a Refrigerant in Electric Vehicles
TapTechNews August 6th news, the Australian automotive media TheDrive released a blog post yesterday (August 5th) disclosing the environmental killer in electric vehicles - R134a air-conditioning refrigerant, and stated that its harm to the environment is 1400 times more serious than that of carbon dioxide.
R134a Air-Conditioning Refrigerant
R134a is a medium and low temperature environmentally friendly refrigerant that can be applied in most fields where R12 refrigerant is used and is widely used in the automotive field, but the Global Warming Potential (GWP) of this air-conditioning refrigerant is 1430.
The media reported that electric vehicles usually take environmental protection as a selling point, but the harmful gases they emit are more, sometimes even twice that of traditional fuel vehicles.
Hazard Degree
One kilogram of R134a released into the air, its harmful effect is equivalent to 1.43 tons of carbon dioxide. R1234yf takes only about 11 days to decompose in the atmosphere, while R134a takes many years to complete the same work.
Investigation Situation
The media investigated the top 10 best-selling car brands in Australia and found that except for Mazda and Mitsubishi, most models (if not all) of all brands are using R134a refrigerant.
European Requirements
According to relevant European laws, since 2017, European laws require manufacturers to ensure that the global warming potential (GWP) of the air-conditioning gas used in all new platform cars they sell is less than 150, meaning that car manufacturers usually use R1234yf air-conditioning refrigerant (GWP less than 1).
US Requirements
The US is also working hard to formulate similar laws, which are expected to take effect next year. The US Environmental Protection Agency's Final rule was signed on October 5, 2023, which restricts the use of hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) with high global warming potential (GWP value) in aerosol, foam, and refrigeration, air conditioning and heat pump products and equipment. Among them, the refrigerant with a GWP value higher than 150 will be prohibited from being used in the automotive air conditioning systems imported or manufactured in the US.
China's Situation
TapTechNews queried the public information. When interviewed by the China Automobile News in October 2023, Chen Shihua, deputy secretary-general of the China Automobile Industry Association, said:
Since 2001, China's automotive industry has fully applied R134a as a refrigerant (GWP = 1430) in the new car manufacturing process. So far, the refrigerant used in China's automotive air conditioning is mainly R134a, and a few models using heat pump air conditioning systems will use a mixed refrigerant. Vehicles exported to Europe and the US mostly use HFO-1234yf to meet local regulatory requirements.
According to the statistics of the China Automobile Association, the average annual amount of hydrofluorocarbon refrigerant used in China's new car manufacturing and maintenance links from 2020 to 2022 is 38,000 tons, and the potential emission of hydrofluorocarbon refrigerant used by the automotive industry in one year is about 55 million tons of carbon dioxide equivalent.