X-Envelope-to: biosph-l@UBVM.BITNET
X-VMS-To: BIOSPH
Newsgroups: bit.listserv.biosph-l
Date:         Sat, 22 Aug 1992 18:08:00 EST
Reply-To:     "TRACY LOGAN, LAFAYETTE COLLEGE,
              EASTON PA" <LOGANT@LAFAYETT.BITNET>
From:         "TRACY LOGAN, LAFAYETTE COLLEGE,
              EASTON PA" <LOGANT@LAFAYETT.BITNET>
Subject:      Eco-Fridge: Good news, some harder chemical facts too

The German Treuhand [agency liquidating/privatizing unviable East
German "firms"] will NOT liquidate the firm that wants to
manufacture the Eco-Fridge.  It will provide some 5 million marks
towards a goal of full production by 1993, postings on the group
de.soc.umwelt are saying.  Price under 700 marks (for what that
estimate and the mark are worth today -- dollar hit record low, @
only 1.4 marks).  65000 "orders" are in, says Greenpeace.

(If this "news" is stale -- you're seeing it sooner and better
done in US media -- let me know, otherwise read on.  I haven't
seen a peep in our regional paper.)

The net, and what appeared two weeks ago in Die ZEIT (major
weekly newspaper), are talking about two different ways the
Eco-Fridge is better than the refrigerator/chemical-industry
establishment's solution:

1. The conventional solution is to replace FCKWs ("Freon" I
presume, anyway fluorochlorohydrocarbons) with FKW 134a, which
indeed has no Ozone Depletion Potential.  However, it still has a
high Global Warming Potential: 3000 times CO2.  The Eco-Fridge's
refrigerant has no GWP (and no ODP).

2. The insulation in a conventional refrigerator is thinner
(higher R value), but contains FCKW, too.  The Eco-Fridge uses
Polystyrol, with no FCKW.

Half of German appliance dealers are not aware of the difference
between "the ozone-killer FCKW and the climate-killer FKW," says
Greenpeace.

The table below, from a 1990 report to the German Parliament,
supplies chemical formulae and data that may add clarity:

               Used for   ODP CLP GWP  Lifetime     Climate  Ozone
                                       (years)      killer   killer
CONVENTIONAL FRIDGES

FCKW 11      Insulation    1   1   4500   60        ja            ja
(Trichlor-    foam
fluormethan)

FCKW 12      Refrigerant   1   1.5 7100   120       ja            ja
(Dichlor-
difluormethan)


FRIDGES WITH SUBSTITUTES

FCKW 22        (both)   0.05  0.14 4100  15         ja            ja
(Chlordi-
fluormethan)
.......

FKW 134a   Refrigerant   0      0  3200  16         ja              -
(Tetra-
fluorethan)


GREENFREEZE

Propan       Refrigerant  0    0  minor  Months     -              -

Butan        ", spraycans 0    0     "   Weeks      -              -

===================== notes =======================================
ODP:    Ozone Depletion Potential (Ozonzerstoerungspotential)
CLP:    Chlorine Loading Potential (Chlorbelastungspotential)
GWP:    Greenhouse Warming Potential relative to CO2
[and for English speakers, KW = Kohlenwasserstoff, or Hydrocarbons]

Source: 3. Bericht der Enquetekommission des Deutschen
Bundestages "Schutz der Erdatmosphaere", 1990

Much of the info here was posted by
   ------------------------------------------------------------------------
   Klaus Thielking, Fuerth
   E-Mail :   ComLink/Zerberus: K.THIELKING@LINK-NJD.ZER
              Internet/UUCP   : k.thielking@link-njd.nbg.sub.org
   ------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                        - tracy
Comments: Gated by NETNEWS@AUVM.AMERICAN.EDU