Annual inventory of refrigerant emissions for France – métropole reports decreasing HFC emissions

The Alliance Froid Climatisation Environnement (AFCE) has published the 2022 annual inventory of refrigerant emissions for France, commissioned from Citepa, with results for 2023 being a provisional estimate. The September 2024 report [1] demonstrates once again that the continuous efforts made by the refrigeration, air conditioning and heat pump sector for several years are relevant.

• The overall share of HFC fluorinated fluids in global CO₂ emissions, represents 2.4% of total greenhouse gases emitted, with RACHP about 82% of fluorinated greenhouse gases.
• The refrigerant bank in operation is growing (particularly with the deployment of heat pumps), but with emissions falling.
• Direct emissions are down in tonnes, but this is even more striking in terms of CO₂
• A continuing trend of using lower GWP refrigerants.

Total refrigerant emissions in mainland France, including emissions during the life of the equipment and its dismantling at the end of its life, are estimated at 5,920 tonnes in 2022, down 3.8% compared to 2021. HFC emissions are also down 3.8% compared to 2021 and between 2022 and 2023, forecasts put this decrease at 2.4%. Emissions are dominated by those of R-134a (33%) and R-410A (17%). Emissions of R-404A now represent only 7% of the total, due to the gradual conversion of installations and the reduction in leak rates.

The total bank of refrigerants in metropolitan France is growing steadily, due to the banks of the air conditioning sectors (+6% between 2021 and 2022) and heat pumps (+18%). It reached 64,700 tonnes in 2022, including 14% of non-fluorinated refrigerants. The bank increased by 2.5% between 2021 and 2022, and the same increase is expected for 2023, to be confirmed by the next inventory. In total, the HFC/HFO bank represents nearly 56,000 tonnes, including 7,350 tonnes of HFOs and is dominated by air conditioning at 27% and mobile air conditioning at 25%.

In 2022, refrigerant emissions in mainland France are estimated at 7.8 million tonnes of CO₂ equivalents (AR5 required for UNFCCC reporting), including HFCs at 7.6 million tonnes CO₂e. Refrigerant emissions, as CO₂e equivalents, have been decreasing sharply since 2018, by more than 10% per year. The decrease is 12% between 2021 and 2022, and could be around 10% between 2022 and 2023, reaching   7.1 million tonnes of CO₂e in 2023, according to initial estimates. Several points explain this decrease, in particular:

• The renewal of the vehicle fleet, towards vehicles equipped with R-1234yf, whose CO₂e emissions have decreased by more than 10% per year since 2018;
• The 2020 deadline banning the use of HFCs with a GWP greater than 2500 for the maintenance of refrigeration installations, which has led to the acceleration of the renewal or retrofit of refrigeration installations using R-404A (GWP = 3921) in favour of installations using HFCs with a GWP less than 1500;
• The gradual introduction of R-32 (GWP = 675) instead of R-410A (GWP = 2087), with very rapid penetration, well before the 2025 deadline for certain applications;
• Improved recovery due to price increases and the shortage of certain HFCs due to the implementation of the “phasedown” by EU Regulation 517/2014.

According to the report, the total demand for refrigerants is estimated at 7,900 tonnes for the year 2022, including about 6,100 tonnes of HFCs and 800 tonnes of HFOs. The share of non-fluorinated refrigerants represents 12% of total demand in 2022.

References:

[1] Rapport fluides frigorigènes : septembre 2024 – AFCE – Alliance Froid Climatisation Environnement