REFRIGERANTS
Year of change ahead
A-Gas commercial director Enzo D’Alessio explains how the cooling industry can handle the eff ects of Brexit, the Covid-19 pandemic and another large cut in the availability of virgin refrigerants.
Y
ou will not need a crystal ball to recognise that 2021 will be another year of great change for the cooling industry. A cut in the F-Gas quota of 29 per cent
for virgin refrigerants is taking place in 2021 and has been on the radar for a number of years. This alone could be a signifi cant challenge for our industry during normal times. But when you also consider the demands placed upon us by the COVID-19 pandemic and our departure from the European Union, then there will be more than enough issues for our industry to cope with in the new year. The UK has already left the European Union but the
eff ects will only be felt after the end of the transition period which ends on December 31 this year. The cooling industry is hoping for a smooth transition with low barriers to trade and the UK continuing with the like-for-like standards and regulations it shares with its continental counterparts. The F-Gas Regulation is UK law – it is not going away but we are likely to see diff erences in the way that the regulation is enforced. The qualifi cations our contractors hold and the trade bodies in which they are registered are going to change. Contractors will need to hold recognised qualifi cations in both the UK and Europe. The management of the quota system and reporting requirements is – at the time of writing – no closer to being confi rmed. One thing we can be certain about is that more change is on the way. On the bright side, investment in alternative
16 December 2020
low-GWP products, and an improved industry understanding of the importance of reclamation is paying off . We are also in a better place to deal with the further cuts in the availability of virgin refrigerants. The ban introduced in 2020 on the use of HFCs with a GWP of more than 2500 in new systems – except below -50°C in stationary systems – is something our industry has adapted well to. The ban on servicing existing equipment with virgin HFCs with a GWP of more than 2500, where the charge is greater than 40 tonnes of CO2, is also something we are now better equipped to handle. Next year’s reduction of 29 per cent (on a CO2 equivalent basis) in virgin quota will take the industry down to 45 per cent of the 2015 baseline level. This will without doubt lead to a signifi cant reduction in the supply of HFC refrigerants. The F-Gas step downs have at times led to price rises and shortages and it is likely we’ll see these again next year. On the whole the industry is learning to cope with the long- term eff ects of these changes and this is evident in the sales of low GWP replacements. Refrigerant recovery and reclamation have a signifi cant role to play as we look at ways to meet the continued challenges off ered by the F-Gas step downs. Industry experts know that refrigerants saved from disposal and returned to use as reclaimed gas can make a direct contribution to the reduction in use of virgin refrigerants and help the industry remain within the limits imposed by the quota system.
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