Refrigerant Emissions
Refrigerant emissions are greenhouse gases released from air conditioning, refrigeration, and heat pump systems through leakage, maintenance, or end-of-life disposal.
What is Refrigerant Emissions?
Refrigerants include hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) and other fluorinated gases with very high global warming potentials — often thousands of times more potent than CO₂. A small leak of refrigerant can produce a surprisingly large carbon footprint. Common refrigerants include R-410A (GWP 2,088), R-134a (GWP 1,430), and R-32 (GWP 675). Refrigerant emissions are classified as Scope 1 fugitive emissions. The EU F-Gas Regulation and UK F-Gas Regulation are phasing down HFC use, driving transition to lower-GWP alternatives.
Practical Examples
A supermarket chain discovers that refrigerant leakage accounts for 30% of its Scope 1 emissions, prompting a transition to natural refrigerants (CO₂ and propane).
A building manager calculates that a 5 kg leak of R-410A from an air conditioning system is equivalent to 10.4 tCO₂e — more than the annual emissions of a UK car.
How Climatise Helps
Climatise tracks refrigerant types, quantities, and leakage rates across your operations, calculating the Scope 1 emissions from fugitive refrigerant losses using DEFRA GWP factors.
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