Air conditioners are trying to stop global warming

The problem of global warming began to be seriously interested in the mid-80s of the 20th century. In 1987 was signed Montreal Protocol, prescribing to limit and subsequently completely stop the production of items and equipment emitting substances that destroy the ozone layer into the atmosphere. Since then, the protocol has gone through a number of amendments, the last of which was at the end of 2016. Nearly 200 countries and Russia, among others, agreed that the refrigerants used today in the production of air conditioners harm the ozone layer.

The essence of the problem

In the early 1970s, a group of scientists from the University of California identified a group of substances - chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) - which destroy ozone in the middle stratosphere. This, as a result, leads to an increase in the number of destructive electromagnetic radiation from UV-B radiation that reaches the Earth’s surface,which is fraught with the death of various representatives of flora and fauna and an increase in the level of cancer in humans. Today, freon is mainly used in air conditioning systems. R22, emitting CFCs and depleting the ozone layer.

The EU countries were the first to sound the alarm: in 2015, a policy of strict restriction of the production of such air conditioners began. According to forecasts, by 2021 the volume of production of machinery will decrease by 37%, and by 2031 - by 79%. Developing countries, of course, are lagging behind this schedule, but by 2050 they should reach the minimum level of reduction in equipment output by R22, which is 15%.

Manufacturers answer

Of course, this does not mean that we will give up the use of climate systems. Manufacturers of technology are mastering new types of freon, which does not emit harmful substances into the Earth’s atmosphere. For example, ozone-safe are R407 and R410 A. However, the use of these refrigerants significantly increases the cost of air conditioners: they have an increased condensation pressure, respectively, the production has to use more durable and thicker materials.

But Daikin offered air conditioning on freon R32. It has an even lower global warming potential than R410 A, but less dense and viscous. This increases the efficiency of the cooling system without significantly increasing its cost. Following Daikin, the Chinese company Midea at the World of Climate 2017 exhibition presents its first inverter air conditioner on the R32. Thus, it can be assumed that the future lies precisely with such systems, although alternative options are not excluded.