Chapter 7: Emissions of Fluorinated Substitutes for Ozone Depleting Substances

CHAPTER 7

EMISSIONS OF FLUORINATED
SUBSTITUTES FOR OZONEDEPLETING SUBSTANCES

2006 IPCC Guidelines for National Greenhouse Gas Inventories

7.1

Volume 3: Industrial Processes and Product Use

Authors
Paul Ashford (UK)James A. Baker (USA), Denis Clodic (France), Sukumar Devotta (India), David Godwin (USA), Jochen
Harnisch (Germany), William Irving (USA), Mike Jeffs (Belgium), Lambert Kuijpers (Netherlands), Archie
McCulloch (UK), Roberto De Aguiar Peixoto (Brazil), Shigehiro Uemura (Japan), and Daniel P. Verdonik(USA)

Contributing Authors
William G. Kenyon (USA), Sally Rand (USA), and Ashley Woodcock (UK)

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2006 IPCC Guidelines for National Greenhouse Gas Inventories

Chapter 7: Emissions of Fluorinated Substitutes for Ozone Depleting Substances

Contents
7

Emissions of Fluorinated Substitutes for Ozone Depleting Substances ........................................................7.7
7.1

Introduction ...........................................................................................................................................7.7

7.1.1

Chemicals and relevant application areas covered ........................................................................7.7

7.1.2

General methodological issues for all ODS substitute applications ..............................................7.8

7.1.2.1

Overview of ODS substitute issues..........................................................................................7.8

7.1.2.2

Choice of method...................................................................................................................7.13

7.1.2.3

Choice of emission factors.....................................................................................................7.18

7.1.2.4

Choice of activity data ...........................................................................................................7.18

7.1.2.5

Completeness.........................................................................................................................7.20

7.1.2.6

Developing a consistent time series .......................................................................................7.20

7.1.3

Uncertainty assessment ...............................................................................................................7.21

7.1.4

Quality Assurance/Quality Control (QA/QC), Reporting and Documentation for all ODS
substitutes applications................................................................................................................7.21

7.2

7.1.4.1

Quality Assurance/Quality Control (QA/QC) for all ODS substitutes applications ..............7.21

7.1.4.2

Reporting and Documentation for all ODS substitutes applications......................................7.22

Solvents (non-aerosol).........................................................................................................................7.23

7.2.1

Chemicals covered in this application area .................................................................................7.23

7.2.2

Methodological issues .................................................................................................................7.23

7.2.2.1

Choice of method...................................................................................................................7.23

7.2.2.2

Choice of emission factors.....................................................................................................7.24

7.2.2.3

Choice of activity data ...........................................................................................................7.25

7.2.2.4

Completeness.........................................................................................................................7.26

7.2.2.5

Developing a consistent time series .......................................................................................7.26

7.2.3

Uncertainty assessment ...............................................................................................................7.26

7.2.4

Quality Assurance/Quality Control (QA/QC), Reporting and Documentation ...........................7.27

7.3

7.2.4.1

Quality Assurance/Quality Control........................................................................................7.27

7.2.4.2

Reporting and Documentation ...............................................................................................7.27

Aerosols (propellants and solvents).....................................................................................................7.28

7.3.1

Chemicals covered in this application area .................................................................................7.28

7.3.2

Methodological issues .................................................................................................................7.28

7.3.2.1

Choice of method...................................................................................................................7.28

7.3.2.2

Choice of emission factors.....................................................................................................7.29

7.3.2.3

Choice of activity data ...........................................................................................................7.30

7.3.2.4

Completeness.........................................................................................................................7.30

7.3.2.5

Developing a consistent time series .......................................................................................7.31

7.3.3

Uncertainty assessment ...............................................................................................................7.31

7.3.4

Quality Assurance/Quality Control (QA/QC), Reporting and Documentation ...........................7.31

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Volume 3: Industrial Processes and Product Use

7.4

Quality Assurance/Quality Control (QA /QC).......................................................................7.31

7.3.4.2

Reporting and Documentation ...............................................................................................7.31

Foam blowing agents ..........................................................................................................................7.32

7.4.1

Chemicals covered in this application area .................................................................................7.32

7.4.2

Methodological issues .................................................................................................................7.33

7.4.2.1

Choice of method...................................................................................................................7.34

7.4.2.2

Choice of emission factors.....................................................................................................7.35

7.4.2.3

Choice of activity data ...........................................................................................................7.38

7.4.2.4

Summarising the primary methods ........................................................................................7.39

7.4.2.5

Completeness.........................................................................................................................7.41

7.4.2.6

Developing a consistent time series .......................................................................................7.41

7.4.3

Uncertainty assessment ...............................................................................................................7.41

7.4.4

Quality Assurance/Quality Control (QA/QC), Reporting and Documentation ...........................7.41

7.5

7.4.4.1

Quality Assurance/Quality Control........................................................................................7.41

7.4.4.2

Reporting and Documentation ...............................................................................................7.42

Refrigeration and Air Conditioning.....................................................................................................7.43

7.5.1

Chemicals covered in this application area .................................................................................7.43

7.5.2

Methodological issues .................................................................................................................7.45

7.5.2.1

Choice of method...................................................................................................................7.45

7.5.2.2

Choice of emission factors.....................................................................................................7.51

7.5.2.3

Choice of activity data ...........................................................................................................7.53

7.5.2.4

Applying tier 2 methods – the example of mobile air conditioning (MAC) ..........................7.55

7.5.2.5

Completeness.........................................................................................................................7.58

7.5.2.6

Developing a consistent time series .......................................................................................7.58

7.5.3

Uncertainty assessment ...............................................................................................................7.58

7.5.4

Quality Assurance/Quality Control (QA/QC), Reporting and Documentation ...........................7.58

7.6

7.5.4.1

Quality Assurance/Quality Control........................................................................................7.58

7.5.4.2

Reporting and Documentation ...............................................................................................7.59

Fire protection .....................................................................................................................................7.61

7.6.1

Chemicals covered in this application area .................................................................................7.61

7.6.2

Methodological issues .................................................................................................................7.61

7.6.2.1

Choice of method...................................................................................................................7.61

7.6.2.2

Choice of emission factors.....................................................................................................7.63

7.6.2.3

Choice of activity data ...........................................................................................................7.64

7.6.2.4

Completeness.........................................................................................................................7.64

7.6.2.5

Developing a consistent time series .......................................................................................7.64

7.6.3

Uncertainty assessment ...............................................................................................................7.64

7.6.4

Quality Assurance/Quality control (QA/QC), Reporting and Documentation ............................7.65

7.7

7.4

7.3.4.1

7.6.4.1

Quality Assurance/Quality Control........................................................................................7.65

7.6.4.2

Reporting and Documentation ...............................................................................................7.65

Other applications ...............................................................................................................................7.66

2006 IPCC Guidelines for National Greenhouse Gas Inventories

Chapter 7: Emissions of Fluorinated Substitutes for Ozone Depleting Substances

7.7.1

Chemicals covered in this application area .................................................................................7.66

7.7.2

Methodological issues .................................................................................................................7.66

7.7.2.1

Choice of method...................................................................................................................7.66

7.7.2.2

Choice of emission factors.....................................................................................................7.67

7.7.2.3

Choice of activity data ...........................................................................................................7.67

7.7.2.4

Completeness.........................................................................................................................7.67

7.7.2.5

Developing a consistent time series .......................................................................................7.68

7.7.3

Uncertainty assessment ...............................................................................................................7.68

7.7.4

Quality assurance/quality control (QA/QC), reporting and documentation ................................7.68

7.7.4.1

Quality assurance/quality control ..........................................................................................7.68

7.7.4.2

Reporting and documentation ................................................................................................7.68

References.....................................................................................................................................................7.70

Equations
Equation 7.1

Calculation of net consumption of a chemical in a specific application..............................7.14

Equation 7.2A Calculation of emissions of a chemical from a specific application....................................7.14
Equation 7.2B Calculation of emissions of a chemical from an application with banks.............................7.14
Equation 7.3

General mass balance equation for Tier 1b .........................................................................7.15

Equation 7.4

Summary emissions equation based on phases of the lifecycle...........................................7.17

Equation 7.5

Emission estimation method for solvent uses......................................................................7.23

Equation 7.6

Emission estimation method for aerosol uses......................................................................7.28

Equation 7.7

General emission-factor approach (a) for foams .................................................................7.33

Equation 7.8

Generic calculation method for emissions from open-celled foams....................................7.34

Equation 7.9

Determination of refrigerant emissions by mass balance ....................................................7.48

Equation 7.10 Summary of sources of emissions .......................................................................................7.49
Equation 7.11 Sources of emissions from management of containers........................................................7.49
Equation 7.12 Sources of emissions when charging new equipment..........................................................7.50
Equation 7.13 Sources of emissions during equipment lifetime .................................................................7.50
Equation 7.14 Emissions at system end-of-life...........................................................................................7.51
Equation 7.15 Verification of supply and demand assessments .................................................................7.58
Equation 7.16 Calculation of annual refrigerant market .............................................................................7.59
Equation 7.17 Time dependence of emissions from fire protection equipment..........................................7.61
Equation 7.18 Assessment of prompt emission sources from other applications .......................................7.67
Equation 7.19 Assessment of emissions from other contained applications...............................................7.67

2006 IPCC Guidelines for National Greenhouse Gas Inventories

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Volume 3: Industrial Processes and Product Use

FiguresFigure 7.1

Disaggregation of chemical data across an application .........................................................7.9

Figure 7.2

Decision tree for actual emissions from the solvents application ........................................7.25

Figure 7.3

Decision tree for actual emissions from the aerosol application .........................................7.29

Figure 7.4

Decision tree for emissions from the foam application .......................................................7.36

Figure 7.5

Example of spreadsheet calculation for Tier 1a method......................................................7.40

Figure 7.6

Decision tree for actual emissions from the refrigeration and air conditioning (RAC)
application ...........................................................................................................................7.46

Figure 7.7

Example of spreadsheet calculation for Tier 1a/b assessments ...........................................7.47

Figure 7.8

Example of spreadsheet calculation for Tier 1 method .......................................................7.62

Figure 7.9

Decision tree for actual emissions from the fire protection application ..............................7.63

Figure 7.10

Decision tree for actual emissions from the other applications ...........................................7.69

TablesTable 7.1

Main application areas for HFCs and PFCs as ODS substitutes............................................7.8

Table 7.2

Overview of data requirements for different tiers and approaches ......................................7.13

Table 7.3

Example distribution of HFC/PFC use by application area (2002) .....................................7.16

Table 7.4

Use of HFCs in the foam blowing industry (foam product emissions by gas – ODS
replacements).......................................................................................................................7.32

Table 7.5

Default emission factors for HFC from closed-cell foam....................................................7.35

Table 7.6

Default emission factors for HFC-134a and HFC-152a uses (foam sub-applications )(IPCC/TEAP, 2005) ............................................................................................................7.37

Table 7.7

Default emission factors for HFC-245fa/HFC-365mfc/HFC-227ea uses (foam subapplication)..........................................................................................................................7.37

Table 7.8

Blends (many containing HFCs and/or PFCs).....................................................................7.44

Table 7.9

Estimates for charge, lifetime and emission factors for refrigeration and air-conditioning
systems ................................................................................................................................7.52

Table 7.10

Good practice documentation for refrigeration and air-conditioning systems.....................7.60

Boxes

7.6

Box 7.1

Global and regional databases for ODS substitutes.............................................................7.11

Box 7.2

Tier 2a implementation for the foam application using globally or regionally derived data...........7.39

Box 7.3

Accounting for imports and exports of refrigerant and equipment......................................7.54

Box 7.4

Example of the application of a Tier 2a calculation for mobile air conditioning ................7.55

2006 IPCC Guidelines for National Greenhouse Gas Inventories

Chapter 7: Emissions of Fluorinated Substitutes for Ozone Depleting Substances

7 EMISSIONS OF FLUORINATED SUBSTITUTESFOR OZONE DEPLETING SUBSTANCES
7.1

INTRODUCTION

7.1.1

Chemicals and relevant application areas covered

Hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) and, to a very limited extent, perfluorocarbons (PFCs), are serving as alternatives toozone depleting substances (ODS) being phased out under the Montreal Protocol. Current and expected
application areas of HFCs and PFCs include (IPCC/TEAP, 2005):•

refrigeration and air conditioning;•

fire suppression and explosion protection;•

aerosols;•

solvent cleaning;•

foam blowing; and•other applications1.

These major groupings of current and expected usage are referred to in this chapter as applications within the
ODS substitutes category. This introduction (Section 7.1) provides a general framework for estimating emissions
from ODS substitutes, and subsequent sections (Sections 7.2 through 7.7) provide more specialised guidance on
the individual applications introduced above. Some of these applications themselves encompass products or useswith diverse emission characteristics, and countries will produce more rigorous estimates if they account for thisdiversity through the adoption of disaggregated assessments (higher tier). Additionally, the use of HFCs and
PFCs in some applications, specifically rigid foam (typically closed-cell foam), refrigeration and fire suppression,
can lead to the development of long-lived banks of material. The emission patterns from these uses can beparticularly complex and methods employing disaggregated data sets are essential to generate accurate emissions
estimates. Other applications, such as aerosols and solvent cleaning may have short-term inventories of stock but,in the context of emission estimation, can still be considered as sources of prompt emission. This statement also
applies to flexible foams (typically open-cell foam).
HFCs and PFCs are not controlled by the Montreal Protocol because they do not contribute to depletion of thestratospheric ozone layer. HFCs are chemicals containing only hydrogen, carbon, and fluorine. Prior to theMontreal Protocol and the phase-out of various ODS, the only HFCs produced were HFC-152a, which is acomponent of the refrigerant blend R-500, and HFC-23, a low temperature refrigerant which is a by-product of
HCFC-22 2 production. HFC-134a entered production in 1991 and a variety of other HFCs have since been
introduced and are now being used as ODS substitutes (IPCC/TEAP, 2005) among other applications. Whencollecting data on HFC and PFC consumption for reporting purposes, care needs to be taken to include those
HFCs in blends, but, at the same time, to avoid including those components of a blend which are not required tobe reported (e.g., CFCs and HCFCs).
HFCs and PFCs have high global warming potentials (GWPs) and, in the case of PFCs, long atmosphericresidence times. Table 7.1 gives an overview of the most important HFCs and PFCs (IPCC Second Assessment
Report (IPCC, 1996); IPCC Third Assessment Report (IPCC, 2001); IPCC/TEAP, 2005), including their main
application areas. The various HFCs and PFCs have very different potencies as greenhouse gases. PFCs haveparticularly high GWPs regardless of the integrated time horizon adopted because of their long atmospheric
lifetimes. The consumption patterns relating to individual gases must be known, therefore, or estimated withreasonable accuracy, to achieve useful assessments for the contribution to global warming from emissions ofthese groups of chemicals.

1

HFCs and PFCs may also be used as ODS substitutes in sterilisation equipment, for tobacco expansion applications, and as
solvents in the manufacture of adhesives, coating and inks.

2

HCFCs - hydrochlorofluorocarbons.

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As CFCs, halons, carbon tetrachloride, methyl chloroform, and, ultimately, HCFCs are being finally phased out3,
HFCs are being selectively used as replacements. PFCs are also being used, but only to a limited extent. Even
though up to 75 percent of previous application of CFC may now be covered by non fluorocarbon technologies(IPCC/TEAP, 2005), HFC use is expected to continue to grow at least in the short term.

TABLE 7.1
MAIN APPLICATION AREAS FOR HFCS AND PFCS AS ODS SUBSTITUTES 1
Chemical

Refrigeration
and Air
Conditioning

Fire Suppression
and Explosion
Protection

HFC-23

X

X

HFC-32

X

HFC-125

XX

HFC-134a

X

X

HFC-143aX

HFC-152aX

HFC-227ea

X

X

HFC-236fa

X

X

Aerosols

Foam
Blowing

Other
Applications2

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

Propellants

Solvents

Solvent
Cleaning

HFC-245fa

X

HFC-365mfc

X

X

HFC-43-10mee

X

X

3

PFC-14 (CF4)

X

X
X

X

PFC-116 (C2F6)X

PFC-218 (C3F8)
PFC-31-10 (C4F10)

X

4

PFC-51-14 (C6F14)
1

X

Several applications use HFCs and PFCs as components of blends. The other components of these blends are sometimes ODSs and/or
non-greenhouse gases. Several HFCs, PFCs and blends are sold under various trade names; only generic designations are used in thischapter.

2

Other applications include sterilisation equipment, tobacco expansion applications, plasma etching of electronic chips (PFC-116) andas solvents in the manufacture of adhesive coatings and inks (Kroeze, 1995; U.S. EPA, 1992a).

3

PFC-14 (chemically CF4) is used as a minor component of a proprietary blend. Its main use is for semiconductor etching.

4

PFC-51-14 is an inert material, which has little or nil ability to dissolve soils. It can be used as a carrier for other solvents or todissolve and deposit disk drive lubricants. PFCs are also used to test that sealed components are hermetically sealed.

7.1.2
7.1.2.1

General methodological issues for all ODS substituteapplications
O VERVIEW OF ODS SUBSTITUTE ISSUESLEVELS OF DATA AGGREGATION
Each application discussed above can be divided into sub-applications. When selecting a method for estimating
emissions, it is good practice to consider the number and relevance of sub-applications, the data availability, andthe emission patterns. Applications with a high number of sub-applications (refrigeration has six major subapplications; foam has even more) will generally benefit from a higher level of disaggregation in their data sets,owing to the differences between the sub-applications. Accordingly, for rigorous emissions estimates, inventory
compilers are likely to favour estimating emissions for each sub-application separately. In this chapter, such an
3

Refer to http://hq.unep.org/ozone/ for the phaseout schedules dictated under the Montreal Protocol.

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2006 IPCC Guidelines for National Greenhouse Gas Inventories

Chapter 7: Emissions of Fluorinated Substitutes for Ozone Depleting Substances

approach defines a Tier 2 method, whereas methods based on datasets aggregated at the application level are allclassified as Tier 1. Even if few sub-applications exist, estimating emissions by sub-application may still be mostappropriate owing to the differences in emission patterns, chemical use, data gathering methodologies, and/or
data availability. Fire protection, for example, has only two major sub-applications, but each has unique emission
characteristics and a disaggregated (Tier 2) method will produce better emission estimates. On the other hand, if
emission patterns of sub-applications are similar and if data are difficult to collect in disaggregated form,
estimating emissions at an aggregated application level (Tier 1) can be an appropriate approach to produce
reliable emission estimates. For example, although several sub-applications exist within the aerosol propellants
application, because the emission patterns and chemicals used are similar, estimating emissions at an applicationlevel may be sufficient to yield good results.
Figure 7.1

Disaggregation of chemical data across an application
Domestic production + Imports – Exports byproduct or equipment type (sub-application)

PRODUCT DATA*
Average charge by chemical or blend
type for each sub-application functional
unit

CHEMICAL

Quantitiesof blends
andchemicals
consumedin year

SALES
DATA*

MATRIX
Consumption bychemical type by subapplication

Chemicals imported/exported in products* Both required as a time-series

Product Data for Application
ChemicalConsumption,

Sub-Application 1

Sub-Application 2

Etc.

Bank, orEmissions

Domestic
Production+ Imports- Exports

Domestic
Production+ Imports- Exports

Chemical Data for Application

Chemical 1

Chemical 2

Complete each cell (some may bezero) using chemical and productChemical 3

data as available. For blends,
separate data into individual

Blend Achemical constituents. Determine if
chemical data includes that chemical

Blend B

used in blends or not.

Etc.

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Volume 3: Industrial Processes and Product Use

TYPES OF DATA
It is important early on in the estimation process to decide about how and from where data is to be collected.
Data on chemical sales (sometimes referred to as top-down data) typically comes on a substance-by-substancebasis, although even this can be complicated by the use of blends. Data on markets (sometimes referred to as
bottom-up data) will tend to come in the form of equipment or product sales at the sub-application level,although this data will typically be influenced by the existence of imports and exports of such equipment or
products. This data often need to be accompanied by an estimate of the share of the market that uses a particulartechnology. For example, different chemicals (including some not subject to reporting) may be used in the same
sub-application. Additionally, the average amount of chemical used by each product type within the subapplication may vary. The two routes (chemicals and products) represent the two axes of a matrix and adisaggregated approach requires completion (or near completion) of that matrix (Figure 7.1). Completing thismatrix is typically accomplished by using combinations of both types of data (i.e., both top-down and bottom-up
data), comparing the results, and adjusting as appropriate.

DATA AVAILABILITY
There are often difficulties in collecting data for both Tier 1 and Tier 2 methods if chemical suppliers at thenational level believe that there are confidentiality implications arising from disclosure of information. In
practice, this has been one of the major barriers to reliable emissions estimates at the national level.
In order to overcome some of these constraints, there has, in recent years, been an effort to develop global andregional databases which provide information on historic and current activity (chemical consumption) data at thecountry level for specific applications and sub-applications. The value of this approach is that these data can bevalidated against chemical sales at regional, or even global, level and thereby avoids breeching confidentiality
restrictions required by the suppliers. As these databases have developed, (for example, those developed under
the oversight of the relevant UNEP Technical Options Committees under the Montreal Protocol) they havebecome increasingly sophisticated in their analyses of use patterns which are often well-understood at the subapplication level (see Box 7.1). This means that the two axes of the matrix described earlier can be addressedfrom these datasets and Tier 2 methods can be facilitated at a country level without a massive investment of
resource. This activity data can then be combined with default emission factors or with country-specific emission
factor data, if this is available, to derive appropriate emissions estimates. Of course, it is important to exercise
care in making use of such databases and it is important to choose reputable well-documented sources.
Nonetheless, the use of globally or regionally derived data of this type can deliver reliable estimates. An
alternative strategy could be to use information generated from such a database to benchmark informationcollected nationally.
In either case, it is important that data is generated in a form that will fit with relevant reporting requirements(e.g., the Common Reporting Format of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change(UNFCCC)). These requirements may vary with time during the lifetime of these Guidelines. Accordingly, thestructuring of activity datasets should be sufficiently flexible to deal with such changes.
In some instances the complexity of the chemical and equipment supply chain can create additional challenges
regarding data availability. As highlighted in Section 7.5, there are a range of containers that can be used tosupply the mobile air conditioning market, from semi-bulk containers for OEMs; to intermediate containers forthe average vehicle servicing centre (10-15kg); to small 300-500g cans for the do-it-yourself market. Since
wastage levels will vary substantially between these differing supply-chain approaches, inventory compilers
need to consider how to assess these losses in practice. The use of containers is not only limited to mobile air
conditioning, but is often prevalent in other sectors of the refrigerant market, aerosols and in fire suppression.
Inventory compilers could consider treating the supply of ODS substitutes as a separate element of the inventory.
However, even if this route is taken, it will require detailed knowledge of the sub-applications to understand therange of sizes used and proportion of each. Accordingly, it is viewed as most appropriate to evaluate container
losses (often termed heels) within each application and sub-application, although it would be good practice tocompare estimated losses within different applications and sub-applications using the similar sized containers toensure some uniformity of approach.

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2006 IPCC Guidelines for National Greenhouse Gas Inventories

Chapter 7: Emissions of Fluorinated Substitutes for Ozone Depleting Substances

BOX 7.1
GLOBAL AND REGIONAL DATABASES FOR ODS SUBSTITUTES

Global and regional databases are typically developed for specific applications by experts in thefield. These experts often have good professional contacts with industry sources, and are familiar
with access to relevant market studies and other reports that shed light onto the consumption
patterns of regions and countries. From this knowledge base it is possible to cross-reference
product data, either at regional level or even at global level, with chemical consumption data. It is
common for such databases to predict future consumption as well as to assess current
consumption. This makes them valuable also as a policy development tool. However, it isimportant that such databases are properly maintained and are regularly cross-checked with actual
chemical consumption data whenever it becomes available in order to be assured that any new
trends or other sources of discrepancy are accounted for and fully reconciled wherever possible.
For example, individual members of the UNEP Technical Options Committees (TOCs) under theMontreal Protocol have prepared a number of global activity datasets that can assist countries in
preparing estimates of ODS substitute emissions. Particularly relevant are the databases used tosupport the development of the IPCC/TEAP Special Report on Safeguarding the Ozone Layer and
the Global Climate System: Issues Related to Hydrofluorocarbons and Perfluorocarbons(IPCC/TEAP, 2005), because information on the phase-out of ozone-depleting substances is
directly relevant for estimating the phase-in of substitutes. The assumptions behind these datasets
have been documented in a number of summary reports which can be found at
http://epa.gov/ozone/snap/emissions/index.html (e.g., Clodic D., Palandre, L., McCulloch, A.,
Ashford, P. and Kuijpers, L.. ‘Determination of comparative HCFC and HFC emission profiles for
the Foam and Refrigeration sectors until 2015.’ Report for ADEME and US EPA., 2004). These
existing datasets have been regularly peer-reviewed by other experts from within the relevant
TOCs and have been used by the Parties to the Montreal Protocol to assess transitions in chemicalmarkets and chemical use patterns.
If national data are difficult to obtain, countries can search the IPCC Emissions Factor Database(EFDB) for datasets such as those discussed above. All such databases should be structured tofacilitate their use in inventory reporting. The EFDB is likely to become the home for a number ofsuch global/regional databases in due course, either as additional sources for applications alreadycovered or as new sources for applications not previously covered. Although inclusion of
databases in the EFDB provides general assurance of due process, it is good practice for countries
to ensure that all data taken from the EFDB are appropriate for their national circumstances andthat peer review is sufficient for this complex area of activity.

TYPES OF EMISSION ESTIMATES
In contrast with the earlier Guidelines, both Tier 1 and Tier 2 methods proposed in this chapter result in
estimates of actual emissions rather than potential emissions. This reflects the fact that they take into account thetime lag between consumption of ODS substitutes and emission, which, as noted previously, may beconsiderable in application areas such as closed cell foams, refrigeration and fire extinguishing equipment. A
time lag results from the fact that a chemical placed in a new product may only slowly leak out over time, often
not being released until end-of-life. A household refrigerator, for example, emits little or no refrigerant throughleakage during its lifetime and most of its charge is not released until its disposal, many years after production.
Even then, disposal may not entail significant emissions if the refrigerant and the blowing agent in the
refrigerator are both captured for recycling or destruction.
The potential emission method, in which emissions are assumed to equal the amount of virgin chemical
consumed annually in the country minus the amount of chemical destroyed or exported in the year of
consideration, is now presented only as a reference scenario in the QA/QC section. As noted above, the potential
method does not take into account accumulation or possible delayed release4 of chemicals in various products
and equipment, which means that, over the short term (e.g., 10-15 years), estimates may become very inaccurate.
Therefore, it is not considered good practice to use the potential method for national estimates.5

4

Sometimes from types of equipment and products which have since converted out of halocarbon technologies.

5

The Conference of the Parties to the UNFCCC, at its third session, affirmed ‘… that the actual emissions ofhydrofluorocarbons, perfluorocarbons and sulphur hexafluoride should be estimated, where data are available, and used for2006 IPCC Guidelines for National Greenhouse Gas Inventories

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TIMING OF EMISSIONS AND THE SIGNIFICANCE OF BANKS
In many applications ODS substitutes such as HFCs and PFCs serve their purpose only if they are contained (e.g.,refrigeration and air conditioning), while in other applications, they are meant to be emitted (e.g., as an aerosol
propellant). These differences are important to understand, so that the year in which emissions occur can be
accurately assessed, and hence actual emissions can be accurately estimated.
Where emissions occur within the first two years, they are usually referred to as prompt emissions. Examples ofapplications and sub-applications exhibiting prompt emissions include aerosols, aerosol solvents, open-cellfoams and in some cases non-aerosol solvents. In general, emissions from applications or sub-applications
exhibiting prompt emissions can be estimated by determining annual chemical consumption and then assuming
all emissions occur within the first year or two of consumption. Thus, if chemical consumption is unknown prior
to a certain date, emission estimates a year or two after that date will nonetheless be accurate and relatively little
accuracy will be gained by searching for or estimating chemical consumption from prior years.
Where delays in emission occur, the cumulative difference between the chemical that has been consumed in an
application or sub-application and that which has already been released is known as a bank. Applications inwhich banks typically occur include refrigeration and air conditioning, fire protection, closed-cell foams, andoften non-aerosol solvents. The definition of bank encompasses the presence of the chemical at all parts of thelifecycle and may even include waste streams. By way of example, blowing agent still present in foamed
products which may have already been land-filled is still part of the bank, since it is chemical which has been
consumed and still remains to be released. In practice, most equipment-related sub-applications (e.g. in
refrigeration and fire protection) are unlikely to carry their charges into the waste stream and the total of thechemical contained in the equipment currently in use becomes a close approximation to the actual bank.
Estimating the size of a bank in an application or sub-application is typically carried out by evaluating thehistoric consumption of a chemical and applying appropriate emission factors. Where more than one subapplication exists, but a Tier 1 method is being followed, a composite emission factor needs to be applied.
However, in view of the uncertainties surrounding such composite emission factors, Tier 2 methods will always
be preferred for applications with multiple sub-applications, particularly where these are dissimilar in nature.
It is also sometimes possible to estimate the size of bank from a detailed knowledge of the current stock ofequipment or products. A good example is in mobile air conditioning, where automobile statistics may beavailable providing information on car populations by type, age and even the presence of air conditioning. Withknowledge of average charges, an estimate of the bank can be derived without a detailed knowledge of thehistoric chemical consumption, although this is still usually useful as a cross-check.

APPROACHES FOR EMISSION ESTIMATES
Even among those applications which retain the chemicals over time, there are some significant distinctions. In
some instances (e.g., refrigeration) the quantity of HFC or PFC is typically topped-up during routine servicing. If
equipment were topped-up annually and the market was otherwise static (i.e., no growth in the equipment stock),the actual emissions would be consistent with consumption for that year. Under such circumstances, it is notnecessary to know the precise equipment stock as long as the consumption of HFC or PFC is known by type atthe sub-application level. This is the basis of the mass-balance approach which is referred to throughout thischapter as Approach B. More discussion on the mass-balance approach is found in Chapter 1, Section 1.5 of thisvolume. However, a mass-balance approach is not appropriate for other situations or for other products (e.g.,foams) where consumption occurs only at the point of manufacture, while emissions may continue to a limited
extent throughout the lifetime of the product. In such instances, it is usually better to revert to an emission-factor
approach (i.e., methods based on activity (consumption) data and emission factors). Such methods can be
operated at both aggregated (Tier 1) and disaggregated (Tier 2) levels and are referred to throughout this chapter
as Approach A. Accordingly, a Tier 1a method will be an emission-factor approach with a low level ofdisaggregation, while a Tier 2b method will be a mass-balance approach with a relatively high degree of
disaggregation (at least to the sub-application level). Further information on the choice between using a massbalance approach and an emission-factor approach is found in Chapter 1, Section 1.5. In general, mass-balance
approaches are only considered for ODS substitutes stored or used in pressurised containers and so many
applications do not consider Approach B at all. Where Approach B is considered (e.g., refrigeration and fire
protection) the choice of method is discussed under that part of Chapter 7 addressing the application in question.
Some methods described for these specific applications can have characteristics of both approaches, and themass-balance approach can be used to cross-check and validate the results of an activity (consumption)
data/emission factor approach. Accordingly, whilst the labelling conventions will remain unchanged throughout
the reporting of emissions. Parties should make every effort to develop the necessary sources of data;’. (Decision 2/CP.3,
Methodological issues related to the Kyoto Protocol)

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Chapter 7: Emissions of Fluorinated Substitutes for Ozone Depleting Substances

to avoid confusion, it may be that some methods are labelled Tier 1a/b or Tier 2a/b because they are seen tocontain elements of both approaches. This is most common in the case of Tier 1 methods where data is limited
and one approach can be usefully used to cross-check the other.
Table 7.2 below summarises what kind of data are required to implement different tiers and approaches.

TABLE 7.2
OVERVIEW OF DATA REQUIREMENTS FOR DIFFERENT TIERS AND APPROACHESApproach A (emission-factor approach)Approach B (mass-balance approach)

Tier 2(emission
estimation at adisaggregatedlevel)•

Data on chemical sales and usage patternby sub-application [country-specific or
globally/regionally derived]
Emission factors by sub-application[country-specific or default]•

Tier 1(emission
estimation at an
aggregated level)•

Data on chemical sales by application[country-specific or globally/regionallyderived]Emission factors by application [countryspecific or (composite) default]

•

•

•

•

•

Data on chemical sales by sub-application[country-specific or globally/regionallyderived]Data on historic and current equipment
sales adjusted for import/export by subapplication [country-specific or
globally/regionally derived]
Data on chemical sales by application[country-specific or globally/regionallyderived]Data on historic and current equipment
sales adjusted for import/export byapplication [country-specific or
globally/regionally derived]

In the six sections that follow (Sections 7.2 to 7.7), decision trees are included for each application to assist in
the identification of data needs and the selection of approach for individual sub-applications, where these exist.

7.1.2.2

C HOICE OF METHODAs already described, emissions of ODS substitutes can be estimated in a variety of ways with varying degrees
of complexity and data intensity. This chapter provides less data-intensive Tier 1 methods, typically based on
low levels of disaggregation, and more data-intensive Tier 2 methods, which require higher levels of
disaggregation. A third Tier (Tier 3), based on actual monitoring and measurement of emissions from point
sources, is technically possible for specific sub-applications but this is rarely, if ever, employed for ODS
substitutes, because the individual point sources are widely disparate. Accordingly, Tier 3 methods are notaddressed further in this chapter.

TIER 1 METHODS
Tier 1 methods tend to be less data-intensive and less complex than Tier 2 because emission estimates areusually carried out at the application level rather than for individual products or equipment types. However, theapproaches proposed vary considerably depending on the characteristics of the specific application. There can be
Tier 1a approaches, Tier 1b approaches and, sometimes, combinations of the two (Tier 1 a/b). The latter is often
the case where data are in short supply. Effectively, the output of a Tier 1a approach can be cross-checked usinga Tier 1b method. In general, however, the simple methods tend to be based primarily on a Tier 1a approach(emission-factor approach) with the default emission factor being up to 100 percent for prompt releaseapplications.
For simpler Tier 1 approaches, the chemical sales data at the application level is usually sufficient. However,separating out individual components of blends can still represent a considerable challenge. Irrespective of theTier 1 methodology chosen, countries will need to report emissions of individual HFCs and PFCs. Informationon the practical use of the various commercial types of HFC/PFC refrigerants, blowing agents, solvents, etc. will
therefore be required. Many of these products are mixtures of two or more HFCs and/or PFCs, and thecomposition of fluids for similar purposes may vary according to individual formulas developed by different
chemical companies.

Tier 1a – Emission-factor approach at the application level
Tier 1a relies on the availability of basic activity data at the application level, rather than at the level ofequipment or product type (sub-application). This activity data may consist of annual chemical consumption data
and, for applications exhibiting delayed emissions, banks derived therefrom. Once activity data have been
established at the application level, composite emission factors (see Section 7.1.2.3) are then also applied at the2006 IPCC Guidelines for National Greenhouse Gas Inventories

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application level. These more aggregated emission factors (e.g., all rigid foams) can be a composite or weighted
average of the emission factors developed for Tier 2a covering individual equipment or product types, or can bea validated approximation approach (e.g., Gamlen et al. 1986).
The calculation formula for Net Consumption within the Tier 1a method is as follows:
EQUATION 7.1
CALCULATION OF NET CONSUMPTION OF A CHEMICAL IN A SPECIFIC APPLICATIONNet Consumption = Production + Imports − Exports − Destruction

Net Consumption values for each HFC or PFC are then used to calculate annual emissions for applications
exhibiting prompt emissions as follows:
EQUATION 7.2A
CALCULATION OF EMISSIONS OF A CHEMICAL FROM A SPECIFIC APPLICATION
Annual Emissions = Net Consumption • Composite EF
Where:Net Consumption = net consumption for the application
Composite EF = composite emission factor for the application
Note that, as discussed in the Choice of Activity Data section, inventory compilers may have access to chemical
consumption data at the aggregate level rather than by application. In this case, it will be necessary as an earlystep to determine the share of total consumption represented by each application.
In equation 7.1, Production refers to production of new chemical. Reprocessing of recovered fluid should not be
included in consumption estimates. Imports and Exports include bulk chemicals but, for a Tier 1 method isunlikely to contain the quantity of chemical contained in products, such as refrigerators, air-conditioners,
packaging materials, insulating foams, fire extinguishers etc. unless regional allocation system or other methodof approximation has been used. The term composite emission factor refers to an emissions rate that summarises
the emissions rates of different types of equipment, product or, more generally, sub-applications within an ODS
application area. Composite emission factors should account for assembly, operation and, where relevant in thetime-series, disposal emissions.
Although destruction of virgin HFCs and PFCs is not currently practised widely, and may be technically difficult
in some cases (UNEP TEAP Task Force on Destruction Technologies (UNEP-TEAP, 2002)), it should be
included as a potential option to reduce consumption. It should be noted that destruction of virgin chemicals, asconsidered here, is distinct from the destruction of HFCs and PFCs in the end-of-life phase, which is strictly anemission reduction measure. By-product emissions during HFC/PFC production and fugitive emissions related
to production and distribution have to be calculated separately.
Even in simple Tier 1a methods, it is usually necessary to account for the potential development of banks, wherethese can occur. Banks are the amounts of chemical that have accumulated throughout the lifecycle, either insupply chains, products, equipment or even waste streams but which, as of the end of the most recent year, has
not been emitted. At the application level, banks can be estimated using relatively straight-forward algorithms
and assumptions provided that the historic Net Consumption is known for each year following the introductionof the substance or, where this period exceeds the average lifetime of the product or equipment, over that
average lifetime. Relevant application level emission factors are then applied to the banks to deal with emissions
during the lifetime of the products or equipment. This same process is carried out for Tier 2a methods but, in thatcase, at the sub-application level. More general information on banks is contained in Section 7.1.2.1.
In cases where banks occur, Equation 7.2A is then modified to the following:
EQUATION 7.2B
CALCULATION OF EMISSIONS OF A CHEMICAL FROM AN APPLICATION WITH BANKS
Annual Emissions = Net Consumption • Composite EFFY
+ Total Banked Chemical • Composite EFB

Where:Net Consumption = net consumption for the application

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Chapter 7: Emissions of Fluorinated Substitutes for Ozone Depleting Substances

Composite EFFY = composite emission factor for the application for first year
Total Banked Chemical = bank of the chemical for the application
Composite EFB = composite emission factor for the application for bankComposite emission factors are determined by taking an average of the applicable sub-application emission
factors, weighted according to the activity in each sub-application. Sub-application emission factors can becountry-specific where known or default. In practice, if sub-application data are known, inventory compilers
would opt for a Tier 2 (disaggregated approach). If only application level data are known, representative
composite emission factors from other studies or default composite emission factors provided in this chapter canbe used.

Tier 1b – Mass-balance approach at the application level
The mass balance approach also estimates emissions from assembly, operation, and disposal, but does not relyon emission factors. Instead, the method uses measured consumption (i.e., sales) of each chemical in the country
or facility being considered. It is generally limited to ODS Substitutes contained in pressurised systems. The
general equation is as follows6:
EQUATION 7.3
GENERAL MASS BALANCE EQUATION FOR TIER 1b
Emissions = Annual Sales of New Chemical − (Total Charge of New Equipment− Original Total Charge of Retiring Equipment )Industry needs to purchase new chemical from manufacturers in order to replace leakage (i.e., emissions) fromthe current equipment stock, or the equipment will not function properly. If the equipment stock did not change
from year to year, then annual chemical consumption alone would provide a reasonable estimate of actualleakage or emissions. The total equipment stock, and the chemical charge it contains, however, does change
from year to year. Some amount of new equipment containing a chemical charge is introduced each year, andsome amount of old equipment that was charged originally is retired each year. If the total chemical charge
contained in all equipment is increasing as a result of this annual turnover, then total annual chemical
consumption will overestimate emissions (i.e., the charge contained in new equipment is greater than the original
charge of the retired equipment). Conversely, if the total chemical charge in all equipment is decreasing, thentotal annual chemical consumption will underestimate emissions.
In order to make good use of data on annual sales of new chemical, it is therefore also necessary to estimate thetotal charge contained in new equipment, and the original charge contained in retiring equipment. The total
charge of new equipment minus the original total charge of retiring equipment represents the net change in the
charge of the equipment stock. (Using the mass balance approach, it is not necessary to know the total amount ofeach chemical in equipment stock in order to calculate emissions.) Where the net change is positive, some of the
new chemical is being used to satisfy the increase in the total charge, and therefore cannot be said to replaceemissions from the previous year.
Industry also requires new chemical to replace destroyed gas and for stockpiles. Additionally, not all equipment
will be serviced annually. Terms can be added to the general equation to account for these factors but are nottypically adopted within simple Tier 1b methods.
This approach is most directly applicable to the pressure equipment used in refrigeration and air conditioning,
and fire protection applications because these are where chemical sales are most typically used to offset
operational emissions. However, since the basic method is relatively simple to apply, it is more typical to extend
the approach to the sub-application level (i.e., a Tier 2b method). Further elaboration and modification of thisapproach is provided in the description of each application. In practice, Tier 1b methods are most commonlyused as a further cross-check to Tier 1a methods. Where basic Net Consumption data is lacking, regional andinternational databases and models have been developed that allocate regional chemical sales for different end
uses (sub-applications) at a country level. These can therefore be used to source relevant data.

TIER 2 METHODS – APPLIED AT THE SUB-APPLICATION LEVEL
There are two versions of the Tier 2 method, both of which result in emission calculations for each individual
chemical and distinct types of products or equipment at the sub-application level or within a sub-application. The
6

Boundary conditions: If there is no net change in the total equipment charge, then annual sales are equal to emissions. If
the net change in the total equipment charge is equal to annual sales, then emissions are zero.

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individual chemicals and products/equipment within the sub-application form the matrix referred to earlier inthis section and their analysis is comparable with methods currently applied by the Alternative Fluorocarbons
Environmental Acceptability Study (AFEAS) for CFCs, HCFCs and HFCs (McCulloch, Midgley and Ashford,
2001 and 2003; Ashford, Clodic, Kuijpers and McCulloch, 2004).
Both versions of the Tier 2 methodology follow two general steps:i.

Calculation or estimation of the time series of net consumption of each individual HFC and PFC chemical
at a relatively detailed product and equipment level to establish the consumption basis for emission
calculations. (e.g., refrigerators, other stationary refrigeration/AC equipment, appliance foams,
insulated panels, pipe insulation, etc.)

ii.

Estimation of emissions using the activity data and resulting bank calculations derived from step (i), andeither emission factors that reflect the unique emission characteristics related to various processes,
products and equipment (Tier 2a) or, relevant new and retiring equipment information at the subapplication level to support a mass balance approach. (Tier 2b).

The difference between Tier 2a and Tier 2b is the same as that for Tier 1a and Tier 1b – namely Tier 2a methods
use an emission-factor approach while Tier 2b methods follow a mass-balance approach. Both, however, need to
be operated at a level of disaggregation appropriate to a Tier 2 method, typically at least at the sub-applicationlevel.
If the requisite data are available, a Tier 2 method is preferred for estimating emissions from ODS substitutes,
particularly where the sub-applications within an overall application area are relatively heterogeneous. Somecountries may already have the relevant information available to apply a Tier 2 methodology. Other countries
might not have access to data for Tier 2 at present, but they are encouraged to establish routines to collect either
country-specific or globally or regionally-derived activity data by chemical and sub-application within an
application area (e.g., different types of refrigeration and air conditioning sub-applications). Tier 1, in contrast,
requires data collection at a more aggregated application level (e.g., refrigeration and air conditioning in its
totality).
As a first step in using the Tier 2 method, countries may wish to make first order approximation of theinformation needed for step (i). This will give direction to more focused data collection efforts in certain
application areas or sub-categories. Table 7.3 gives examples of HFC/PFC consumption distribution at theapplication level in 2002 among various application areas in selected countries. Since HFCs and PFCs have only
recently entered the market in some applications, the relative size of consumption in each application willcontinue to change over time and should be updated regularly at a country level.

TABLE 7.3
EXAMPLE DISTRIBUTION OF HFC/PFC USE BY APPLICATION AREA (2002)a
Country

Refrigeration
Air
Conditioning

Foam
Blowing

Solventb

Fire
Protectionb

Aerosol
Propellantb

Other
Applicationsb

Austria
Denmark
NorwaySwedenUnitedKingdom

18%
81%
72%
48%
31%

81%
18%
11%
42%
22%

0%
0%
0%
0%
0%

1%
0%
16%
4%
9%

0%
1%
1%
6%
38%

0%
0%
0%
0%
0%

a
b

UNFCCC Reported Data for 2002 as re-submitted in 2004
A zero declaration may not always reflect non-use but could reflect reporting under other categories.

Good practice guidance in this section deals with variations of the Tier 2 method. Tier 1 methods, covered
previously, are generally seen as default methods where the application is not a key category and data
availability is limited. (Exceptionally, for Fire Protection, Tier 1a method with country-specific activity data andemission factor will be used in the case it is identified as key category.) Each sub-section of Sections 7.2 to 7.7
discusses how to apply these methods to specific ODS applications, reviews existing data sources, and identifies
gaps therein.

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Tier 2a – Emission-factor approach
The country-specific data required for a Tier 2a approach are derived from the number of products and end-uses
relevant to each sub-application in which ODS substitutes are contained and from which ODS substitutes areultimately emitted. This approach seeks information on the number of equipment units or products that use thesechemicals, average chemical charges, average service life, emission rates, recycling, disposal, and other pertinent
parameters. This information is generally collected at the level of distinct groups of products or equipment (e.g.,
for rigid foams: integral skin, continuous panel, discontinuous panel, appliance, injected foam products andothers). Annual emissions are then estimated as a function of these parameters through the life of the units or
products by the application of emission factors that are relevant to the lifecycle phases. Since equipment andother products vary significantly in the amount of chemical used, service life, and emission rates, thecharacterisation of this equipment can be a resource intensive task. The longer-lived the end-use equipment or
product, and the more diverse the types of equipment or product within a particular sub-application, the more
complex the sourced data approach has to be in order to account for emissions. However, the approach canprovide an accurate estimate of emissions if the data called for by the following equation are available for all
relevant types and vintages of equipment or product:
EQUATION 7.4
SUMMARY EMISSIONS EQUATION BASED ON PHASES OF THE LIFECYCLE
Total Emissions of Each PFC or HFC = Assembly/Manufacturing Emissions+ Operation Emissions+ Disposal Emissions

Manufacturing or Assembly Emissions occur as fugitives when new equipment is filled for the first time with achemical or when a product is manufactured. Operational Emissions from equipment and products occur asleaks or by diffusion during the use phase of the product or equipment (including servicing). In some cases, there
can even be intentional releases during operation. Finally, Disposal Emissions can occur when the equipment or
product reaches its end-of-life and is decommissioned and disposed of. In this case, the remaining HFC/PFC in
the product or equipment may escape to the atmosphere, be recycled, or possibly destroyed.
As with the Tier 1a method, there is a need to make provision for the development of banks in some applications.
This can lead to complex multiple calculations at the sub-application level, since the dynamics of banks mayvary considerably. However, because the individual algorithms rely on a simple sequential calculation of nonemitted consumption (i.e., consumption – emissions for each successive year), excellent emission assessments
can result from a well-constructed and well-maintained national model.
The need to update equipment and product inventories on an annual basis can be a major implementation
challenge for inventory compilers with limited resources. This challenge is made somewhat easier because it
may not be necessary to collect annual chemical consumption if a comprehensive set of other market parameters
is available (e.g., number of domestic refrigerators produced, etc.) In some countries or regions, tradeassociations can be a significant source of such data. Otherwise, specific market research may be necessary.
Where such market parameters are the primary source of activity data, the potential magnitude of errors that canbe introduced by small discrepancies at unit level makes it good practice to carry out a chemical consumption
data cross-check to act as a means of providing quality assurance. The relevant QA/QC sections of this chapter
give guidance on how to conduct such cross-checks for each relevant application.
In order to limit the burden of data management for both annual consumption data and the status of banks, it ispossible to access international and regional databases of such information to gain the necessary inputs ofglobally or regionally validated data to maintain a national model. These databases can also help to overcome
any confidentiality barriers that may exist in collecting and/or publishing data at a national level, particularly
where the number of suppliers is low. More information on the use of such databases is contained in Section
7.1.2.4 and Box 7.1.
Even where comprehensive country-specific activity data exists at a country level, it is good practice tobenchmark outputs against assessments made from databases of globally or regionally derived data. This neednot be done on an annual basis but could reasonably be conducted every 2-3 years. Significant discrepancies canthen be analysed and suitable actions taken to reconcile differences.

Tier 2b – Mass-balance approach
Tier 2 mass-balance approaches are similar to those described for Tier 1b, except that the process is applied at
the sub-application level. This is a particularly valuable approach for the refrigeration sector where there are asignificant number of relatively heterogeneous sub-applications. As is also the case for Tier 1 methods, it is not2006 IPCC Guidelines for National Greenhouse Gas Inventories

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uncommon to see mass-balance approaches used in combination with emission-factor approaches to ensure thatthe outputs achieved are as robust as possible. Such approaches can realistically be described as hybrid Tier 2a/b
methods and they will be identified as such, where they occur in the relevant application-specific sections that
follow.
Since mass-balance approaches also require activity data at the sub-application level, it may be more resourceefficient to use global or regional databases to obtain appropriate globally or regionally validated data. The same
criteria for selection as set out for Tier 2a methods also apply for Tier 2b methods. Accordingly, equal careshould be taken in selecting validated datasets.

7.1.2.3

C HOICE OF EMISSION FACTORSEmission factors are required for all methods following Approach A. In general terms, emission factors can be of
two distinct types:
1.

Emission factors derived from actual measurements of products or equipment at a national level during
the various phases of their lifecycle (country-specific),

2.

Emission factors inferred from wider regional or global sub-application experience (e.g., default).

or
The type of emission factor required will depend on the level of homogeneity within the sub-application, the Tierapproach being implemented, the dependence of emission factors on field practices applied, the role of banks
and the likelihood of specific national circumstances. In some cases, the application will be or may be reasonably
considered to be totally emissive, in which case the net consumption for a given year will become the emissions
estimate for that year (e.g., many aerosol applications). In such a situation, a default emission factor would
normally be more than adequate. However, in most cases involving ODS substitutes, some delay in emission is
anticipated. Accordingly emission factors may need to be more sophisticated, particularly when applied at the
sub-application level (Tier 2).
Because Tier 1 methods typically operate at the application level, it is necessary to use composite emission
factors, which can be either based on weighted averages of known sub-application emission factors (countryspecific or default) or on validated approximation approaches. Since Tier 1 methods are intended to be simple intheir application, inventory compilers have the option of using existing composite emission factors based on thework of others. The Tier 1a approaches outlined in Sections 7.2 to 7.7 make such provision.
For Tier 2 methods, inventory compilers need to be aware of the specific circumstances surrounding the subapplications in their countries. Although product and equipment types can be similar throughout a region or,even globally, there can be significant differences in emission factors over the lifetime of the product orequipment. Such differences can arise from climatic factors, construction methods, regulatory approaches and, inparticular, from servicing methods where these apply. An additional factor to be considered in many countries is
the management of the disposal of products and equipment at the end of its service life, which can have a
profound effect on the total emissions. The chemical remaining in systems at that stage can be 90 percent ormore of the original quantity used. Specific issues related to emission factors are discussed in the relevant
application sections.
Therefore, inventory compilers should ensure that their derivation takes into consideration these potential
sources of variation. This is often best done by comparing selections with those chosen by other countries withsimilar circumstances. Where emission factor variation is seen to be significant (e.g., distinction between
developed and developing country experience with refrigeration equipment), the item is highlighted in relevant
application-specific sections of this chapter.
As an additional support to inventory compilers, the most significant emission factors are included in the
Emissions Factor Database (EFDB) administered by IPCC. The extensive editorial review process ensures that
listed emission factors in the EFDB are properly examined to insure their robustness. Since emission factors in
the EFDB tend to be adjusted less frequently than globally or regionally derived activity data, the review process
can usually keep up with developments, thereby ensuring that listed values are broadly current.

7.1.2.4

C HOICE OF ACTIVITY DATAFor ODS substitutes, activity data consist of the net amount of each chemical consumed annually in a country inan application, sub-application or more detailed equipment/product type. When adopting a Tier 2a method, it isoften necessary to collect activity data for the number of units of a particular equipment or product type inexistence to estimate the amount of chemical consumed or in banks.

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Where banks of chemical are likely to occur, it is also necessary to have information on historical annual net
consumption patterns, either since the year of introduction of the chemical or over the average lifetime of
products or equipment within the application or sub-application. This allows for the calculation of the
cumulative bank in cases where emission factors must then be applied (Tier 1a or Tier 2a methods).
As noted previously, reprocessing of recovered fluid should not be included in consumption estimates. Imports
and exports include not only bulk chemicals, but, for Tier 2 methods in particular, may also include the quantityof chemical contained in products, such as refrigerators, air-conditioners, packaging materials, insulating foams,
fire extinguishers, etc., depending on whether regional allocation has been used or not. Usually, it is notoriously
difficult to obtain data on HFCs and PFCs contained in equipment or products unless a specific customs regime
has been set up to address this issue. This will only likely be practiced, if at all, in conjunction with theimplementation of a Tier 2 method and is unlikely to be available for Tier 1 methods, making the availability of
globally or regionally derived data particularly important, at least as a cross-check, if significant product orequipment trade is expected.
Such globally or regionally derived net consumption (activity) data can be obtained from the datasets containedin regional and global databases. Under this approach, chemical sales data are sometimes assigned from wider
regional consumption information on the basis of some geo-economic factor such as population, GDP or numberof dwellings. When using this market-based allocation method, it might not be necessary to take account of
HFCs and PFCs contained in products being imported or exported, if the regional treatment causes netting out of
intra-regional trade (i.e., imports and exports of products containing HFCs and PFCs within a region are roughlybalanced). Where extra-regional trade is significant, then the HFCs and PFCs contained in products will needmore careful consideration.
Since activity data will be more prone to annual change than emissions factors, the source of globally or
regionally derived data used by the inventory compilers needs to be updated regularly. Reliable global databases
carrying this information are regularly cross-checked with global sales data for individual chemicals and subapplications, thereby ensuring regular validation. When accessing such databases, it is good practice forinventory compilers to ensure that the information they are receiving has been so validated. As noted in Box 7.1,
Global and Regional Databases for ODS Substitutes, inclusion in the IPCC EFDB will indicate generaladherence to due process, but it is good practice for countries to ensure that all data taken from the EFDB areappropriate for their national circumstances.

Specific considerations when collecting country-specific activity data
The collection of country-specific activity data requires an inventory of HFC/PFC net consumption for eachchemical and, where emissions lag behind consumption, an inventory of banked chemicals. Some inventory
compilers may have access to national data published in trade magazines or technical reports. If these data are
not available directly, they can be estimated by means of a special study to estimate the inventory of existing
units or chemicals. Expert panels can also facilitate the generation of this information. Care must be taken to
ensure that the scope of any datasets cited is understood and that any remaining gaps are identified.
Inventory compilers may also decide to conduct annual studies to update their inventories of different types ofequipment/products. An alternative to this may be to calculate or estimate production growth for each one of the
sub-applications under consideration. Data need to reflect new units that are introduced each year, and old or
poorly functioning units that are retired.
Data on national chemical use are more easily obtained than data for the amount of equipment responsible foremissions, provided that confidentiality constraints do not intervene. It is always good practice to obtain data on
the total annual sales from the chemical manufacturers or importers. The best source of data on the total chargeof new equipment is likely to be the equipment manufacturers or the trade associations that represent them. For
the total charge of retiring equipment, it is essential to obtain information on or estimate (i) equipment/productlifetime, and (ii) either (a) the historical sales of equipment/product and the historical average charge size or
formulation, or, (b) the growth rate of such sales and charge sizes over the period in question, where suchinformation is known for the current year.
Inventory compilers in countries that import all or the majority of new chemicals consumed are likely to
encounter different issues of data availability than those in countries with significant domestic chemicals
production. If the majority of chemicals are imported, either in bulk or in equipment and products, some form ofimport data will be necessary for calculating emissions. Ideally, customs officials should track and makeavailable chemical import statistics. For some products, such as foam and aerosols, it may not be possible forcustoms officials to track the type of chemical in the product (e.g., Hydrocarbons vs. HFCs in aerosols), or thepresence of the product in the imported equipment (e.g., closed cell foam in refrigerators). In such cases, it may
be necessary to collect or estimate data with the assistance of major distributors and end-users.
As noted previously in this Section, the ability to obtain relevant country-specific activity data and banking
information on a consistent basis at a country level can be constrained by such issues as confidentiality, lack of2006 IPCC Guidelines for National Greenhouse Gas Inventories

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downstream industry networks and lack of trade information in products-containing HFCs and/or PFCs.
Reconciliation is therefore often better achieved at regional level or even global level in some cases. In making
this comment, it should be noted that the use of country-specific and globally or regionally derived data is not
specifically an ‘either/or’ choice. In many cases, the development of a country’s overall inventory may rely on a
combination of data from both sources. In any event, the use of one to verify the other is actively encouraged as
good practice.

Specific considerations when using the mass-balance approach (Tier 1b or 2b)
Activity data for a mass balance approach (Tier 1b or 2b) focus on chemical deployment rather than sources ofemissions. These activity data include annual sales of new chemical, the total charge of new equipment, and thetotal charge of retiring equipment. If these data are not available at the national level, then globally or regionallyderived data can be used, as for Approach A (emission-factor approach). Since the mass-balance approach is
generally reserved for pressurised equipment in the refrigeration, air conditioning and fire protection applications,
it is useful to know that comprehensive global databases already exist for these.

Time dependency of data contained in these Guidelines
The products and equipment in which ODS substitutes are used have changed significantly over time, and are
expected to continue to change. As a result, where information on activity data and default emission factors is
contained in these Guidelines, it should be noted that activity data will be a more volatile component thanemission factors in determining overall emissions. Accordingly, any default activity information contained
herein will ‘age’ more rapidly and will lead to greater inaccuracies with the passage of time unless appropriate
adjustments are made for market growth in the interim. Global and regional databases for ODS substitutes noted
in Box 7.1 will generally reflect these changes. Where ODS transitions are still in the future, the adoption of
static activity data could lead to very significant errors in emission projections.

7.1.2.5

C OMPLETENESS

Completeness is assured to a large extent for ODS Substitutes as a result of well-documented use patterns for
ODSs themselves and by the fact that activity data, assessed at the application and sub-application levels, can bevalidated against total chemical sales. This is particularly the case for those HFCs and PFCs which are only used
as ODS substitutes. However, it is still important to be able to identify all potential HFCs and PFCs in use. Table
7.1 gives an overview of the main HFCs and PFCs to be considered, but this may not be exhaustive, particularly
when it comes to the components of blends, which can often be complex in their composition.
One set of emissions which is not covered routinely within this source category are those arising from chemical
production itself. However, methods for assessing these emissions are covered within Chapter 3, Section 3.10.
It is possible for emissions to exceed consumption (activity) in a given year owing to emission of previously
accumulated banks and therefore completeness of emissions reporting can only be established in Tier 2
approaches by plotting cumulative emission versus cumulative activity for the total period over which
consumption and resulting emissions have occurred (i.e., cumulative consumption equals cumulative emissions
plus current bank less cumulative destruction).

7.1.2.6

D EVELOPING A CONSISTENT TIME SERIES

Inventory compilers that have prepared basic (Tier 1) estimates in the past are encouraged to develop thecapacity to prepare Tier 2 estimates in the future. It is good practice to ensure that only actual emission estimates
are included in the same time series. Inventory compilers should recalculate historical emissions with thepreferred actual method, if they change approaches. Since all Tier 1 and Tier 2 approaches are now actual
emission methods, there is no problem in mixing these approaches for different applications or sub-applications.
However, if potential emission methods have previously been used, the time series needs to be recalculated. If
data are unavailable, the two methods should be reconciled to ensure consistency, following the guidance on
recalculation provided in Volume 1, Chapter 5. It is good practice to provide full documentation for therecalculation, thereby ensuring transparency.
Emission factors generally come from historical data on other chemicals (e.g., CFCs) used in established markets.
These factors need to be adapted to new chemicals (e.g., ODS substitutes) where new uptake occurs. National
data on base year deployment is now available (or can be calculated with known uncertainty).

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Chapter 7: Emissions of Fluorinated Substitutes for Ozone Depleting Substances

7.1.3

Uncertainty assessment

Over a long time (greater than 50 years in some applications) cumulative emissions of ODS substitutes within acountry will tend to equal cumulative consumption in the same time frame unless significant end-of-life recovery
has been practised. For a given year, the quantification of uncertainty for ODS is very difficult to estimate, due
to the large number of different sources and the diversity of emission patterns. For the Tier 1b and 2b methods,
the overall uncertainty will be directly related to quality and completeness of chemical sales and import data ateither the application or the sub-application level. These factors will be equally important for Tier 1a methods
but there will be additional sources of uncertainty arising from the use of composite emission factors and otherassumptions required to complete specific algorithms. For the Tier 2a method, the uncertainty will reflect thecompleteness of the equipment survey, and the appropriateness of the emission factors developed at the subapplication level to characterise emissions. Further advice on uncertainties is provided in the separate sections on
the six application areas that follow.

7.1.4

Quality Assurance/Quality Control (QA/QC),
Reporting and Documentation for all ODS substitutes
applications

7.1.4.1

Q UALITY A SSURANCE /Q UALITY C ONTROL (QA/QC) FOR
ALL ODS SUBSTITUTES APPLICATIONS

It is good practice to conduct quality control checks as outlined in Volume 1, Chapter 6, and an expert review ofthe emissions estimates. Additional quality control checks as outlined in Volume 1, and quality assurance
procedures may also be applicable, particularly if higher tier methods are used to determine emissions from theseapplications or sub-applications. Inventory compilers are encouraged to use higher tier QA/QC for key
categories as identified in Volume 1, Chapter 4. In addition to the guidance in Volume 1, specific procedures of
relevance to this source category are outlined below.
Even with such provisions in place to deal with activity data, the real emission data for a given year will never be
exactly known, irrespective of the refinement of the estimation methods. Hence, cross checking of integrated
emission figures against real net consumption of HFC/PFC, together with judgement of banking over the same
period of time must be performed at regular intervals, and the input factors have to be adjusted to achieve
agreement over time.

Comparison of emissions estimates using different approaches
Inventory compilers should compare equipment/product based estimates at the sub-application level (Tier 2a)with the mass-balance Tier 1b or 2b approach, where appropriate, since emission factors at the product level
have an inherent associated uncertainty. This technique will also minimise the possibility that certain end-uses
are not accounted for in the equipment/product based approaches.

Potential emissions estima tes as a reference scenario
Inventory compilers may also choose to use the potential emissions reference scenario as a check on the Tier 1 orTier 2 actual estimates. Inventory compilers may consider developing accounting models that can reconcile
potential and actual emissions estimates and may improve determination of country-specific emission factors
over time. When taken alongside estimates of actual emission from determinations of atmosphericconcentrations, this scenario can assist in monitoring the growth of banked greenhouse gases caused throughdelays in emission and, thereby, keeps track of likely future environmental burdens. This ultimate means of massbalance verification is particularly powerful for HFCs and PFCs because of their unique identities and lack ofnatural sources.
Potential emissions of a certain chemical are equal to the amount of virgin chemical consumed annually in the
country minus the amount of chemical recovered for destruction or export in the year of consideration. (SeeAnnex 2 of this volume.) All chemicals consumed will eventually be emitted to the atmosphere over time if notpermanently encapsulated, chemically converted, or destroyed7, and in the long term (in excess of 50 years for7

The destruction of fluorocarbons can be costly but there are several destruction processes recommended by the Parties tothe Montreal Protocol: liquid injection incineration; reactor cracking; gaseous/fume oxidation; rotary kiln incinerators;
cement kilns; plasma destruction; municipal solid waste incinerators (foams only).

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some applications), cumulative potential emissions will equal cumulative actual emissions for those applications
which ultimately cease use of HFCs and/or PFCs and where capture and destruction are not practised.
Since accumulation is thought to be the dominant process at the present time in the major areas of usage, such as
refrigeration and foams, potential emission calculations will strongly overestimate emissions and areinappropriate as a formal annual reporting method.
The error is minimised when enough time has passed for HFC/PFC-containing equipment and products to begin
to be retired, although, even then, the rate of subsequent emission may depend on the end-of-life strategy chosen.
However, as long as emissions lag behind consumption and consumption continues to grow, the overestimation
will persist. The error is zero only if there is no delay in emissions or if the consumption growth rate is zero fora long period of time.

National activity data check
For the Tier 2 method, inventory compilers should evaluate the QA/QC procedures associated with estimating
equipment and product inventories, whether country-specific, regionally or globally derived, to ensure that theymeet the general procedures outlined in the QA/QC plan and that representative sampling procedures were used.
This is particularly important for the ODS substitutes equipment/product types because of the large populationsof equipment and products.
For the Tier 1b (mass balance) method, inventory compilers should evaluate and reference QA/QC procedures
conducted by the organisations responsible for producing chemical deployment information. Sales data may
come from gas manufacturers, importers, distributors, or trade associations. If the QC associated with thesecondary data is inadequate, then the inventory compiler should establish its own QC checks on the secondary
data, reassess the uncertainty of the emissions estimates derived from the data, and reconsider how the data areused.

Emission factors check
Emission factors used for the Tier 2a method should ideally be based on country-specific studies. Where such an
approach is used, inventory compilers should compare these factors with the defaults and any values which may
be contained in the EFDB or elsewhere in support of Tier 2a methods. They should determine if the countryspecific values are reasonable, given similarities or differences between the national circumstances surrounding
the sub-application in question and those assumed within the defaults. Any differences between country specificfactors and default factors should be explained and documented.

7.1.4.2

R EPORTING AND D OCUMENTATION FOR ALL ODS
SUBSTITUTES APPLICATIONS

It is good practice to document and archive all information required to produce the national emissions inventory
estimates as outlined in Volume 1, Section 6.11.
As discussed above, inventory compilers should prepare and report actual emissions estimates for as many subapplications as possible. This is now aided by the availability of globally or regionally derived activity data inregional and global databases (see Box 7.1) together with emission factors for several sub-applications containedin the EFDB. For those equipment/product types where it is not possible to prepare actual emissions estimates atthe sub-application level (i.e., Tier 2 estimates), even with this additional support, inventory compilers should
prepare and report actual emission estimates using Tier 1 methods at the application level.
The balance between preservation of confidentiality and transparency of the data needs to be carefully addressed.
Careful aggregation may solve some problems but will require that results are validated by other means (e.g.,
third party audit). Where data have been aggregated to preserve the confidentiality of proprietary information,
qualitative explanations should be provided to indicate the method and approach for aggregation.

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Chapter 7: Emissions of Fluorinated Substitutes for Ozone Depleting Substances

7.2

SOLVENTS (NON-AEROSOL)

7.2.1

Chemicals covered in this application area

HFCs are now used in solvent applications to a much lower extent than CFC-113 was used prior to phase-out,and PFCs are still only very rarely used. HFC/PFC solvent uses occur in four main areas as follows:(i)

Precision Cleaning;(ii)

Electronics Cleaning;(iii)

Metal Cleaning;(iv)

Deposition applications

HFCs are typically used in the form of an azeotrope or other blend for solvent cleaning. The most commonlyused HFC solvent is HFC-43-10mee, with some use of HFC-365mfc, HFC-245fa (as an aerosol solvent8), andheptafluorocyclopentane (U.S. EPA, 2004b). This allows for tailoring the balance between effective cleaning andcompatibility with materials of construction of the work-piece. The pure material does not have the cleaning
power of CFC-113, since no chlorine atoms are present in the molecule.
In general, perfluorocarbons have little use in cleaning, as they are essentially inert, have very high GWPs andhave very little power to dissolve oils - except for fluoro-oils and fluoro-greases for even deposition of thesematerials as lubricants in disk drive manufacture. Accordingly, PFCs only find rare uses in the solvent sector as
blanketing fluids for 2-propanol cleaning systems (per British Aerospace military section) or in the now obsolete
Advanced Vapour Degreasing (AVD) heterogeneous co-solvent system. Such PFCs can be used as blanketing
fluids to prevent the loss of the more costly primary fluids in dual-fluid vapour phase soldering systems. PFCs
can be used as the only working fluid in single-fluid vapour phase soldering systems. In the component
manufacturing sector, PFCs are used to test the hermeticity of sealed components. Further information on the useof PFCs in the electronics industry is found within Chapter 6 of this volume.
In general, the major PFC manufacturers converted all former PFC users to HFC or hydrofluoroether (HFE) use
in cleaning applications.

7.2.2

Methodological issues

7.2.2.1

C HOICE OF METHODHistorically, emissions from solvent applications generally have been considered prompt emissions because 100
percent of the chemical is typically emitted within two years of initial use. (IPCC, 2000). In order to estimate
emissions in such cases, it is necessary to know the total amount of each HFC or PFC chemical sold in solvent
products each year. Emissions of HFCs and PFCs from solvent use in year t can be calculated as follows.
EQUATION 7.5
EMISSION ESTIMATION METHOD FOR SOLVENT USES
Emissions t = S t • EF + S t −1 • (1 − EF ) − Dt −1
Where:
Emissionst = emissions in year t, tonnes
St = quantity of solvents sold in year t, tonnes
St–1 = quantity of solvents sold in year t–1, tonnes
EF = emission factor (= fraction of chemical emitted from solvents in the year of initial use), fraction
Dt–1 = quantity of solvents destroyed in year t–1, tonnes
Table 7.1 indicates the known HFCs and PFCs used in solvent applications, although good practice is toresearch the country-specific situation in case any previously unidentified applications have arisen. The scope of
8

Emissions of aerosol solvents are included as an aerosol (see Section 7.3).

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the search is aided by the fact that the inventory compiler is only looking for applications where ODSs werepreviously used.
The approach set out in Equation 7.5 can be applied as either a Tier 1a or a Tier 2a method, based as it is on
Approach A (emission-factor approach). Whether the approach qualifies as a Tier 1 or Tier 2 method will
depend on whether there are identifiable sub-applications within the solvent usages in the reporting country (e.g.,
the four main areas identified above). As trends have developed towards more controlled solvent environments,
the need for a Tier 2 approach has increased. In some cases, there may be highly controlled sub-applications (e.g.,in the precision electronics industry) where specific emission factors are fully characterised. These would betreated differently from more general solvent applications which may remain based on the default emission
factor. It should be noted that Equation 7.5 assumes total release of solvent within two years regardless of theemission factor applied in year t. Additionally, there is no consideration of recovery and recycling, which may be
a factor in some situations. However, it would be assumed that recovery and recycling would, in general, be
reflected in reduced sales of virgin materials. Solvent recovered and subsequently destroyed is considered, but isan unlikely course in practice bearing in mind the cost of the chemicals involved.

7.2.2.2

C HOICE OF EMISSION FACTORSThe emission factor EF represents the fraction of chemical emitted from solvents in year t. The product lifetime
is assumed to be two years, and thus any amount not emitted during the first year is assumed by definition to be
emitted during the second and possibly final year. A decision tree for estimating actual emissions is included in
Figure 7.2, Decision Tree for Actual Emissions from the Solvents application. The data collection process is
described in Section 7.2.2.3.
In the absence of country-specific data, it is good practice to use a default emission factor of 50 percent of theinitial charge/year for solvent applications. 9 In certain applications with new equipment incorporating low
emission design features, it is very possible that much lower loss rates will be achieved and that emissions will
occur over a period of more than two years. Alternative emission factors can be developed in such situations,using data on the use of such equipment and empirical evidence regarding alternative emission factors.10 Suchcountry-specific emission factors should be documented thoroughly (Tier 2a). The ‘mix’ of hand operated batchcleaning systems and automated conveyorised systems within a country or region may result in very different
emissions. Attention to proper work practices, setup of the work area and proper training of the workers will
significantly lower solvent emissions. Within such groups (batch or conveyorised), there is a wide range ofequipment age, low emission design sophistication, workpiece design, workpiece load size and maintenancediligence. All of these factors will affect emissions from a particular piece of equipment or region.
Modifications for the recovery and recycling of solvents can be applied if an appropriate estimate of retrofitted
equipment can be obtained. While HFC and PFC solvents may be recovered and recycled multiple times during
their use owing to their high costs, in most emissive end uses (sub-applications) these chemicals will be released
considerably more quickly after being placed in use than those in sealed refrigeration applications.

9Good Practice Guidance and Uncertainty Management in National Greenhouse Gas Inventories (IPCC, 2000).

10

As guidance, for sales to new equipment, approximately 10-20 percent may be emitted with the rest of the solvent used tofill the equipment. In subsequent years sales are for replenishment and can eventually be considered 100 percent emitted.

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Chapter 7: Emissions of Fluorinated Substitutes for Ozone Depleting Substances

Figure 7.2

Decision tree for actual emissions from the solvents application
Start

Are
equipment
and solvent activity
data (country-specific or
globally or regionallyderived) available at the
sub-applicationlevel?
Collect dataat the subapplicationlevel.

Yes

Box 3: Tier 2aNoNo

Is this a key
category1?

Yes

Yes

Are
countryspecific emission
factors available atthe sub-application levelfor newer equipmentwith lower
leak rates?

NoAre
any countryspecific emission
factors available atthe sub-applicationlevel?

No

Is thereany domestic solvent
production?

Yes

In each year, for each individual
substance, obtain data from HFC/
PFC producers and importers/
exporters for gas sales to users.

Calculate emissionsof each HFC/PFC ineach end-use, using
sales data at the subapplication level,country-specificemission factors
where available,
and default factors
for the remainder, taking
into account the use of
new equipment withlower leak rates.

Yes

Calculate emissionsof each HFC/PFC ineach end-use, using
sales data at the subapplication level,country-specificemission factors
where available,
and default factors
for the remainder.
Box 2: Tier 2a

No
In each year, for each individual
substance, obtain solvent importdata from customs statistics, solvent
distributors or other globally or
regionally derived data sources.

Calculate emissionsof each HFC/PFC
using production
and import data at
the application level.
Box 1: Tier 1aNote:
1. See Volume 1 Chapter 4, Methodological Choice and Identification of Key Categories (noting Section 4.1.2 on limited resources), for
discussion of key categories and use of decision trees.

7.2.2.3

C HOICE OF ACTIVITY DATA

Equation 7.5 should be applied to each chemical individually and, depending on the disaggregation in available
data, it may be appropriate to assess net consumption of each chemical by sub-application (Tier 2a). Wherever
possible, activity data should be collected directly from the suppliers of solvent or the users in support of either
Tier 1a or 2a methods. However, where this is not possible, globally or regionally derived activity data at theapplication level or the sub-application level can be used where this is available.
The activity data for this end-use are equal to the quantity of each relevant chemical sold as solvent in aparticular year. Accordingly, data on both domestic and imported solvent quantities should be collected fromsuppliers. Depending on the character of the national solvent industry, this can then be cross-checked with users

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where this is practicable. In most countries, the end-users will be extremely diverse and a supplier-based
approach would be most practical. Nonetheless, a combination of both approaches is often the most effective.

SUPPLIER DATA
Supplier activity data refers to the amount of chemical solvent sold or imported annually into a country.
Domestic solvent sales should be available directly from chemical manufacturers. As solvents are only produced
in a few countries, most countries will import some or all of their consumption. Data on imported solvents canbe collected from the exporting manufacturers, although information on exports to individual countries may beconsidered confidential. Alternatively, import statistics from customs agencies or the distributors of imported
solvents can be used. Solvent import data are generally more easily obtained than aerosol import data because
solvent is usually imported in bulk rather than in small containers.
If specific emission factors are developed for particular types of equipment, it will be necessary to disaggregate
the consumption data into these equipment classes. In general, this will require a bottom-up approach.

USER DATA
User activity data include the number of pieces of equipment or canisters containing solvent and their charge.
The bottom-up approach is suitable where large corporations consume most of the solvent sold, because it
should be possible to obtain detailed solvent end-use data from a few large entities. The bottom-up approach
may also be most appropriate when equipment-specific emission factors are available.

7.2.2.4

C OMPLETENESS

Completeness depends on the availability of activity data. Inventory compilers in countries without domestic
solvent production may need to use expert judgement in estimating activity data, because import statistics arelikely to be incomplete (see Volume 1, Chapters 2 and 3).
There is a potential for double-counting with Volume 3 Chapter 6 which deals with HFC and PFC use in theelectronics industry. This should not occur if care is taken to identify previous ODS consumption patterns. It isalways good practice to cross-reference of both parts of a submission by inventory compilers to confirm that no
double-counting has occurred.
With respect to double-counting, care should also be taken where HFCs and PFCs acting as solvents arecontained in aerosols. A clear policy should be established as to how these are accounted. It is normally goodpractice to account for these uses under consumption in aerosols to avoid problems in making distinctions
between solvents and propellants, particularly where one chemical can act in both roles. This matter is covered
further in Section 7.3.
As noted in Section 7.2.2.1, it is also good practice to carry out some research to confirm that no HFCs or PFCs
other than those listed in Table 7.1 are being used for solvent applications. Producers, importers and distributors
should be able to confirm the situation.

7.2.2.5

D EVELOPING A CONSISTENT TIME SERIESEmissions from the solvent sector should be calculated using the same method and data sources for every year in
the time series. Where consistent data are unavailable for any years in the time series, gaps should berecalculated according to the guidance provided in Volume 1, Chapter 5.

7.2.3

Uncertainty assessment

The assumption that all solvent may be emitted within approximately two years (50 percent in Year t and 50
percent in Year t+1) has been widely accepted by experts as a reasonable default (IPCC Good Practice Guidanceand Uncertainty Management in National Greenhouse Gas Inventories, 2000). However, the magnitude of theerror caused by this assumption will depend on the nature of solvent usage patterns in the country being reported.
In general, the default assumption will over-estimate emissions for a given year as leak tightness of equipment
improves, although not on a cumulative basis unless destruction is being practised. Conversely, growth in thedestruction of recovered or recycled solvent over time will influence the assumption of 100 percent eventual
release. Activity data should be reliable at the application level because of the small number of chemical
manufacturers, the high cost of the solvent, and the 100 percent emissive nature of the use over time in mostapplications. However, uncertainty at the sub-application level will depend largely on the quality of data
provided by users and the level of completeness achieved in surveying them.

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Chapter 7: Emissions of Fluorinated Substitutes for Ozone Depleting Substances

7.2.4
7.2.4.1

Quality Assurance/Quality Control (QA/QC),
Reporting and Documentation
Q UALITY A SSURANCE /Q UALITY C ONTROL

It is good practice to conduct quality control checks as outlined in Volume 1, Chapter 6, and an expert review ofthe emissions estimates. Additional quality control checks as outlined in Volume 1, Chapter 6, and quality
assurance procedures may also be applicable, particularly if higher tier methods are used to determine emissions
from this application. Inventory compilers are encouraged to use higher tier QA/QC for key categories as
identified in Volume 1, Chapter 4.
In addition to the guidance in Volume 1, specific procedures of relevance to this application are outlined below:•

For accurate quality control/assurance both top-down and end-use data should be compiled. To allow
independent assessment of the level of quality of the data reporting, the number of manufacturers anddistributors plus end users interviewed should be quantified.

•

When applying emission factors and activity data specific to various solvent applications, the activity data
should be obtained at the same level of detail.

7.2.4.2

R EPORTING AND D OCUMENTATION

Inventory compilers should report the emission factor used, and the empirical basis for any country-specificfactors. For activity data, chemical sales and imports should be reported, unless there are confidentiality
concerns arising from the limited number and location of manufacturers. (At present, for example, there may be
only one producer of each compound.) Where there are less than three manufacturers of specific chemicals usedas solvents, reporting could be aggregated into the aerosol section, because both are considered 100 percent
emissive applications (see Section 7.3.4.2 below). In this case, to preserve confidentiality, emissions ofindividual gases should not be specified and emissions should be reported in CO2-equivalent tonnes.

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7.3

AEROSOLS (PROPELLANTS AND SOLVENTS)

7.3.1

Chemicals covered in this application area

Most aerosol packages contain hydrocarbon (HC) as propellants but, in a small fraction of the total, HFCs and
PFCs may be used as propellants or solvents. Emissions from aerosols usually occur shortly after production, on
average six months after sale. However, the period between manufacture and sale could vary significantly
depending on the sub-application involved. During the use of aerosols, 100 percent of the chemical is emitted(Gamlen et al., 1986; U.S. EPA, 1992b). The 5 main sub-applications are as follows:(i)

Metered Dose Inhalers (MDIs);(ii)

Personal Care Products (e.g., hair care, deodorant, shaving cream);(iii)

Household Products (e.g., air-fresheners, oven and fabric cleaners);(iv)

Industrial Products (e.g., special cleaning sprays such as those for operating electrical contact,
lubricants, pipe-freezers);(v)

Other General Products (e.g., silly string, tyre inflators, klaxons).

The HFCs currently used as propellants are HFC-134a, HFC-227ea, and HFC-152a, as shown in Table 7.1. The
substances HFC-245fa, HFC-365mfc, HFC-43-10mee and a PFC, perfluorohexane, are used as solvents inindustrial aerosol products. Of these, HFC-43-10mee is the most widely used.11 HFC-365mfc is also expected to
be used within aerosols in the near future.

7.3.2

Methodological issues

7.3.2.1

C HOICE OF METHOD

Aerosol emissions are considered prompt because all the initial charge escapes within the first year or two after
manufacture, typically six months after sale for most sub-applications. Therefore, to estimate emissions it isnecessary to know the total amount of aerosol initially charged in product containers prior to sale. Emissions ofeach individual aerosol in year t can be calculated as follows:
EQUATION 7.6
EMISSION ESTIMATION METHOD FOR AEROSOL USES
Emissions t = S t • EF + S t −1 • (1 − EF )Where:
Emissionst = emissions in year t, tonnes
St = quantity of HFC and PFC contained in aerosol products sold in year t, tonnes
St–1 = quantity of HFC and PFC contained in aerosol products sold in year t–1, tonnes
EF = emission factor (= fraction of chemical emitted during the first year), fraction
This equation should be applied to each chemical individually. Wherever possible, activity data should becollected directly from the manufacturers or distributors of aerosols, ideally at the sub-application level tofacilitate a Tier 2a approach. Globally or regionally derived activity data can be used to provide sub-application
analysis where country-specific data does not exist. If data at the sub-application level is not available fromeither source, activity data at the application level should be obtained and applied using Equation 7.6 (Tier 1a).
Since the lifetime of the product is assumed to be no more than two years, any amount not emitted during thefirst year must by definition be emitted during the second and final year. In reality, most emissions occur within
the first year after product purchase, but Equation 7.6 rightly accounts for the lag period between the time of
manufacture and the time of purchase and use. When applying Equation 7.6, however, care must be taken to
define the Point of Sale which, for the purposes of emission estimation, is viewed as sales by the manufacturer to11

HFC-43-10mee is used solely as a solvent, but is counted as an aerosol when delivered through aerosol canisters.

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Chapter 7: Emissions of Fluorinated Substitutes for Ozone Depleting Substances

the supply chain and not by the retailer to the end-user. This approach is most appropriate because sales data will
normally be collected from manufacturers and major distributors.
In contrast with the situation for solvents, there is rarely a need to account for recovery, recycling or destruction,
since this is only likely to occur when stockpiled product becomes out-of-date. Under normal supply-chain
management conditions this is a rare event.
A decision tree for estimating actual emissions is included in Figure 7.3, Decision Tree for Actual Emissions
from the Aerosol Application. The data collection process is described below.
Figure 7.3

Decision tree for actual emissions from the aerosol application
Start

Does
the country
produce general aerosol
products and metered dose
inhalers (MDIs) containing
HFCs and
PFCs?

Yes

No

Are
activity data
available at the sub-applicationlevel from local manufacturers,
importers and/or global/
regional databases?

Yes

Are
aerosol
product and MDI importstatistics available at the
sub-applicationlevel?

Yes

Calculate emissions of each
substance in each sub-application,using country-specific or
globally/regionally derived activity
data and appropriate emission factors.
Box 2: Tier 2aCollect data at the
sub-applicationlevel.

YesNo

Is this a key
category1?

No

No

Calculate emissions from domestic
and imported products for eachchemical using activity data at theapplication level.
Box 1: Tier 1aNote:
1. See Volume 1 Chapter 4, Methodological Choice and Identification of Key Categories (noting Section 4.1.2 on limited resources), for
discussion of key categories and use of decision trees.

7.3.2.2

C HOICE OF EMISSION FACTORS

It is good practice to use a default emission factor of 50 percent of the initial charge per year for the broad
spectrum of aerosol products when assessed at the application level (Tier 1a). This means that half the chemicalcharge escapes within the first year and the remaining charge escapes during the second year (Gamlen et al.,1986). Inventory compilers should use alternative emission factors only when empirical evidence is available forthe majority of aerosol products at either the application level (Tier 1a) or the sub-application level (Tier 2a). In

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any event, the percentage emission factors should in general sum to 100 percent over the time during which it isassumed that the charge will escape. The development of country-specific emission factors should be
documented thoroughly. General aerosol and MDI manufacturers may be able to provide data on process losses.
As a general observation, the consistently emissive nature of aerosols makes the distinction between countryspecific and the default emission factor on the one hand and any differences between emission factors in thevarious sub-applications on the other hand, less influential on overall emissions estimates than is the case inother application areas. Therefore the benefit of following a more disaggregated Tier 2a approach in favour of a
Tier 1a approach is less pronounced in the case of aerosols. Inventory compilers should therefore consider
carefully how much resource to invest in developing a Tier 2 approach. However, there may be other reasons forkeeping reporting of some sub-applications separate and it is expected many countries may wish to monitor
emissions from MDIs separately to other general aerosols for policy reasons.

7.3.2.3

C HOICE OF ACTIVITY DATA

For the Tier 1a method, the activity data required are the total quantity of each relevant chemical contained in all
aerosol products consumed within a country (both domestic sales and imports). For countries that import 100
percent of aerosol products, activity data are equal to imports.
Activity data for this application can be collected at the sub-application level using either a supplier-based or auser-based approach, depending on the availability and quality of the data (Tier 2a). The user-based approachrequires data on the number of aerosol products sold and imported at the sub-application level (e.g., number ofindividual metered dose inhalers, hair care products, and tyre inflators), and the average charge per container.
This may require globally or regionally derived activity data for some sectors of use. The supplier-based
approach involves collecting aerosol and MDI chemical sales data directly from chemical manufacturers where
their sales analysis is sufficiently robust at a country level. In many cases, a mix of both sources of data may benecessary.
Domestic aerosol production: For countries with domestic production, general aerosol and MDI manufacturers
can usually provide data on the quantity of aerosol products produced for consumption in the country, thenumber of aerosols exported, the average charge per aerosol, and the type of propellant or solvent used (i.e.
which HFC/PFC). Total use of domestically produced aerosol products in each year can then be calculated as thenumber of aerosol products sold domestically in a given year times the charge of HFC/PFC in each product. Of
course, imported aerosols will still need to be added to this assessment to provide the total picture. If subapplication data from indigenous aerosol producers are not available, domestic chemical producers can often
provide data on the amount of HFCs sold to domestic manufacturers in metered dose inhalers, and aggregate
sales data to producers of other aerosols (categories (ii), (iii), (iv) and (v) above). If domestic aerosol and MDI
manufacturers import HFCs, information may also be sought from chemical importers or their overseas suppliers,
although the latter may not be able to provide data on exports destined for individual countries because ofconfidential business concerns. Customs officials and chemical distributors are another possible source forchemical import data. Globally or regionally derived activity data may also have a role both to fill gaps in theexisting dataset and to cross-check data obtained from aerosol manufacturers and chemical suppliers.
Imported aerosol production: Most countries will import a significant share of their total aerosol products.
Data on imports of HFC-containing general aerosols may be difficult to collect because official import statistics
for aerosol products do not typically differentiate HFC-containing aerosols from others. When usable importstatistics are unavailable from customs agencies, data may be available from product distributors and specificend-users. For example, in the case of MDIs, a limited number of pharmaceutical companies typically importproducts, and these companies can be surveyed to obtain the required information. Again globally or regionallyderived activity data may be helpful in certain cases.

7.3.2.4

C OMPLETENESS

Completeness depends on the availability of activity data on each chemical to be covered. Section 7.3.1 (andTable 7.1) provides an assessment of HFCs and PFCs currently used, but inventory compilers should check thesituation with in-country sources to confirm those chemical relevant to the local situation. Inventory compilers
in countries without domestic aerosol production may need to use expert judgement in estimating activity data,
because import statistics are likely to be incomplete (see Volume 1, Chapters 2 and 3), particularly withreference to the propellants and solvents contained. Globally or regionally validated activity databases may beparticularly helpful in such instances, where these exist.

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Chapter 7: Emissions of Fluorinated Substitutes for Ozone Depleting Substances

7.3.2.5

D EVELOPING A CONSISTENT TIME SERIESEmissions from aerosols should be calculated using the same method and data sources for every year in the timeseries. Where consistent data are unavailable for any year in the time series, gaps should be recalculated
according to the guidance provided in Volume 1, Chapter 5.

7.3.3

Uncertainty assessment

The use of HFCs in the general aerosol sector is typically larger than in the MDI sector. Data from HFC
manufacturers and importers of sales to the general aerosol sector are, at the present time, not well-defined otherthan for HFC-134a on a global scale. These data can be improved through additional data collection activities
and the development of global and regional databases. The diffuse nature of the general aerosol sector meansthat the acquisition of reliable bottom-up data (Tier 2a) requires specific study on a country basis through local
industry experts, whose advice should be sought on uncertainties using the approaches to expert judgement
outlined in Volume 1, Chapter 3.
There are several sources of reliable data for the MDI sector, leading to a high level of confidence in the datareported that should be reflected in inventory emissions estimates. However, in reporting for a single country, theabsence of reliable data for the general aerosol sector could mean that emission data could be over or under
estimated by a factor of between one third and three times.

7.3.4
7.3.4.1

Quality Assurance/Quality Control (QA/QC),
Reporting and Documentation
Q UALITY A SSURANCE /Q UALITY C ONTROL (QA /QC)

It is good practice to conduct quality control checks as outlined in Volume 1, Chapter 6, and to organise an
expert review of the emissions estimates. Additional quality control checks as outlined in Volume 1, Chapter 6,
and quality assurance procedures may also be applicable, particularly if higher tier methods are used todetermine emissions from this application. Inventory compilers are encouraged to use higher tier QA/QC for key
categories as identified in Volume 1, Chapter 4.
In addition to the guidance in Volume 1, specific procedures of relevance to this application are outlined asfollows. Aerosol manufacturing and importing data, on the one hand, and chemical supply data, on the other
hand, can be used to cross-check one another during or after the development of an emission estimate. Data used
to calculate emissions from year t–1 should be consistent with data used in the previous year’s inventory
estimate, so the two-year total sums to 100 percent. If this is not the case, then the reason for the inconsistency
should be reported. Data collection carried out in accordance with the section on data collection above should
provide adequate quality control. To allow independent assessment of the level of quality of the data reporting,the number of manufacturers of aerosols plus importers should be quantified.

7.3.4.2

R EPORTING AND D OCUMENTATIONThe emission estimate for metered dose inhalers may be reported separately from the emission estimate for otheraerosols by some inventory compilers. In such cases, the specific emission factor used should be documented. If
a country-specific emission factor is used in preference to a default factor, its development should be
documented. Detailed activity data should be reported to the extent that it does not disclose confidential businessinformation. Where some data are confidential, qualitative information should be provided on the types ofaerosol products consumed, imported, and produced within the country. It is likely that the type of HFC used asa propellant or solvent and the sales of MDIs and general aerosols into individual countries could be viewed asconfidential.12 Where there are less than three manufacturers of specific chemicals used as solvents, reporting
could be aggregated into this section, because both are considered 100 percent emissive applications (see Section
7.2.4.2 above).

12

Quantification of use data for individual general aerosol sectors will enable more reliable future projections to be
developed and emission reduction strategies to be considered.

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7.4

FOAM BLOWING AGENTS

7.4.1

Chemicals covered in this application area

Increasingly, HFCs are being used as replacements for CFCs and HCFCs in foams and particularly in insulation
applications. Compounds that are being used include HFC-245fa, HFC-365mfc, HFC-227ea, HFC-134a, andHFC-152a, as shown in Table 7.1. The processes and applications for which these various HFCs are being used
are shown in Table 7.4 with predominantly open-celled foams being in shaded rows.

TABLE 7.4
USE OF HFCS IN THE FOAM BLOWING INDUSTRY (FOAM PRODUCT EMISSIONS BY GAS – ODS REPLACEMENTS)
Cell
Type
O
P
E
N

C
L
O
S
E
D

a

HFC Foam Blowing Agent Alternatives
Sub-application

HFC-134a

HFC-152a

HFC-245fa

HFC-365mfc(+ HFC-227ea)

PUa Flexible Foam
PU Flexible Moulded Foam
PU Integral Skin Foama

PU One Component Foama

PU Continuous Panel

a

a

a

PU Discontinuous Panel

a

a

a

PU Appliance Foam

a

a

a

PU Injected Foam

a

a

a

PU Continuous Blockaa

PU Discontinuous Blockaa

PU Continuous Laminateaa

PU Spray Foam

a

a

a

a

Phenolic Blockaa

Phenolic Laminateaa

PU Pipe-in-PipeaExtruded Polystyrene

a

a
a

a

PU denotes polyurethane

The division of foams into open-cell or closed-cell relates to the way in which blowing agent is lost from theproducts. For open-cell foam, emissions of HFCs used as blowing agents are likely to occur during the
manufacturing process and shortly thereafter. In closed-cell foam, only a minority of emissions occur during the
manufacturing phase. Emissions therefore extend into the in-use phase, with often the majority of emission notoccurring until end-of-life (de-commissioning losses). Accordingly, emissions from closed cell foams can occur
over a period of 50 years or even longer from the date of manufacture.
Open-celled foams are used for applications such as household furniture cushioning, mattresses, automotive
seating and for moulded products such as car steering wheels and office furniture. Closed-cell foams, on theother hand, are primarily used for insulating applications where the gaseous thermal conductivity of the chosen
blowing agent (lower than air) is used to contribute to the insulating performance of the product throughout its
lifetime.

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Chapter 7: Emissions of Fluorinated Substitutes for Ozone Depleting Substances

7.4.2

Methodological issues

The previous Guidelines presented an equation for calculating emissions from closed cell foam that accounted
for the first two emission points (i.e., manufacturing and during the in-use phase). This remains generally
sufficient to account for the early stages of HFC uptake. However, in order to prepare a complete estimate ofemissions from this source, it is good practice to add third and fourth terms to the equation to account fordecommissioning losses and chemical destruction, where data are available. Thus, the relevant equation is:
EQUATION 7.7
GENERAL EMISSION-FACTOR APPROACH (A) FOR FOAMSEmissions t = M t • EFFYL + Bank t • EF AL + DLt − RDt
Where:
Emissionst = emissions from closed-cell foam in year t, tonnes
Mt = total HFC used in manufacturing new closed-cell foam in year t, tonnes
EFFYL = first year loss emission factor, fraction
Bankt = HFC charge blown into closed-cell foam manufacturing between year t and year t-n, tonnes
EFAL = annual loss emission factor, fraction
DLt = docommissioning losses in year t = remaining losses of chemical at the end of service life that
occur when the product/equipment is scrapped, calculated from the amount of remaining chemical
and the end-of-life loss factor which depends on the type of end-of-life treatment adopted13, tonnes
RDt = HFC emissions prevented by recovery and destruction of foams and their blowing agents in year t,
tonnesn = product lifetime of closed-cell foamt = current year(t-n) = The total period over which HFCs used in foams could still be present
It should be noted that Equation 7.7, although targeted at closed cell foams, can be equally applied to open celled
foams. In this sense it is a universal equation for all foams. In the case of open-celled foams the first-year Loss
Emission Factor is typically 100 percent and the equation simplifies to its first component only, which thenfurther simplifies to Equation 7.8.
Accordingly, where the nature of a foam is uncertain, Equation 7.7 should be applied to each chemical and major
foam sub-application individually when pursuing a Tier 2a method.
Since emission profiles vary substantially by sub-application within the overall foam application, there issignificant incremental value in adopting a Tier 2 method wherever possible. Ideally, this should be achieved by
the researching of individual country activities. However, in practice, the intra-regional trade in foams coupledwith the significant difficulty in setting up systems to identify the blowing agents used in foams alreadymanufactured, makes a method based on country-specific activity data very difficult to implement at the subapplication level. Recognising that both disaggregated activity data and the related emission factors may bedifficult to obtain at a country level, there have been several efforts by the UNEP Foams Technical Options
Committee (UNEP-FTOC, 1999; UNEP-FTOC, 2003) and others to provide globally or regionally derived
activity data and default emissions factors by sub-application for CFCs, HCFCs and hydrocarbons (HCs).
Although HFCs are only now being used significantly as additional ODS alternatives, it is expected that a similar
approach can be carried forward for these chemicals, with emission factors being available within the EFDB inorder to provide a helpful source of information for inventory compilers. Other databases are emerging from theoriginal FTOC work for activity data, and will be particularly helpful for countries where the trade in productscontaining HFCs is significant, but difficult to track.
As an additional methodological consideration, it should be noted that many of the emissions from closed-cell
insulation foams arise from banks of blowing agent built up from previous years of consumption. This point was
13

Most decommissioning procedures will not result in the release of all remaining blowing agent. Even processing throughan open auto-shredder has been found to result in emission of less than 50 percent of the remaining blowing agent at the
point of processing (U.S. EPA/AHAM, 2005). Accordingly, blowing agent banks can accumulate further along the waste
stream (e.g., landfills) – see Section 7.4.2.1.

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highlighted in the IPCC Special Report on Safeguarding the Ozone Layer and the Global Climate System: Issues
Related to Hydrofluorocarbons and Perfluorocarbons (IPCC/TEAP, 2005) where it was noted that CFC
emissions could continue from banked blowing agents in foams until the middle of the 21st century. Thisillustrates the importance of using an emissions estimation method which adequately reflects the development ofbanks.
An additional characteristic of foam inventories is that a significant majority of emissions occur from closed cell
foam at the point of decommissioning or thereafter. Therefore, inventory compilers should be careful to researchdecommissioning practices and any recovery and destruction practices within their country closely. As a further
consequence, methods which assume total release of blowing agent over the manufacturing and use phases arelikely to significantly over-estimate emissions for any given year. Accordingly, methods should typically assume
complete release of blowing agent at decommissioning only where there is definite evidence to support this andshould normally attribute emissions to subsequent years based on a more appropriate release function. The
relevant columns in Tables 7.6 and 7.7 therefore represent ‘maximum potential’ losses. In practice such
emissions are likely to be spread over a substantial number of years following decommissioning if the foamremains broadly intact (i.e., average particle size > 8mm) (U.S. EPA/AHAM, 2005).
As a general observation, the mass-balance approach (Approach B) is inappropriate for foams since there is no
mechanism by which such products are serviced in practice.

7.4.2.1

C HOICE OF METHOD

Open-Cell Foam: Since HFCs used for open-cell foam blowing are released immediately, the emissions inalmost all cases will occur in the country of manufacture. The only exception may be in the case of OCF (OneComponent Foams) where the filled container may be manufactured in one country but the emissions occur inanother country because the containers are easily traded. Emissions are calculated according to the following
equation:14
EQUATION 7.8
GENERIC CALCULATION METHOD FOR EMISSIONS FROM OPEN-CELLED FOAMSEmissions t = M t
Where:
Emissionst = emissions from open-cell foam in year t, tonnes
Mt = total HFC used in manufacturing new open-cell foam in year t, tonnes
This equation must be applied for each chemical used in open-celled foam applications. Although, there is little
variation in emission factor across the open-cell sub-applications, it may still be advantageous to use adisaggregated Tier 2a method in order to make it easier to accurately assess net consumption activity data. Suchan approach will naturally address the trade in one-component foams. Where there is little use of one-component
foam, it could be logical to revert to a Tier 1a method where Equation 7.8 is applied at the application level.
Closed-Cell Foam: Emissions from closed-cell foam occur at three distinct points, which have already beenhighlighted in Equation 7.7:(i)First Year Losses from Foam Manufacture and Installation: These emissions occur where theproduct is manufactured or installed.

(ii)

Annual Losses (in-situ losses from foam use): Closed-cell foam will lose a fraction of its initialcharge each year until decommissioning. These emissions occur where the product is used.

(iii)

Decommissioning Losses: Emissions upon decommissioning also occur where the product is used.

To implement an approach which captures these three phases it is necessary to collect current and historical dataon annual chemical sales to the foam industry for the full length of time HFCs have been used in this application
period up to and including the average lifetime of closed-cell foam (as long as 50 years). The import or export offoam formulations which already include HFCs should be also taken into account. Similarly, there should be
adjustments made for articles such as domestic or commercial refrigerators and freezers or of construction sector
applications such as sandwich panels, boards, blocks and insulated pipes which are produced in one country but
may be used in another country.

14

For these applications, actual emissions of each chemical are equal to potential emissions.

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Chapter 7: Emissions of Fluorinated Substitutes for Ozone Depleting Substances

In earlier assessments the calculation of decommissioning losses has been based on the premise that all blowing
agent remaining in a foam at end-of-life will be lost at the decommissioning stage. From an emissions standpoint,
this is a worst case scenario, even for disposal methods which are not targeted at recovery and destruction (seefootnote 13). In practice, recovery and destruction of blowing agent or direct destruction (e.g., incineration) willfurther alleviate these losses. Hence Equation 7.7 carries a fourth component to allow for HFC emissions
prevented in this way. The UNEP TEAP Task Force Report on Foams End-of-Life (UNEP-TEAP, 2005)
addresses the many of the potential ways in which foam blowing agent emissions can be avoided and introduces
the concept of Recovery and Destruction Efficiency (RDE) to assess the effectiveness of such methods.
Even where active recovery and destruction methods are not practised, it is still unlikely that all blowing agent
will be released at end of life, particularly when foams are typically left in tact during disposal (e.g. during landfilling). Under these circumstances, a considerable proportion of the blowing agent will remain in the waste
stream and an additional banked emission source will be established. Since the emission rates from such a bankwill be lower than 100 percent, Equation 7.7 will over-estimate emissions where a significant proportion of thefoam containing HFCs used in the country has already been decommissioned. Although it would be possible toenvisage a fifth component to Equation 7.7 to address this element of emission, it is not deemed of sufficient
relevance to warrant such an approach for the global phase of HFC use being covered by these Guidelines.
However, some of the more sophisticated globally or regionally-derived assessments may address this issue.
If it is not possible to collect data for potential losses upon decommissioning, it should be assumed that all
chemical not emitted in manufacturing is emitted over the lifetime of the foam. However, particular care should
be taken to check whether articles such as domestic or commercial refrigerators and freezers are exported toanother country for re-use. Where the foam application cannot be disaggregated to the sub-application level andno globally or regionally derived activity data is available, a Tier 1a method needs to be followed. Good practicein the choice of a Tier 1 method is to assume that all closed cell foam emissions follow the Gamlen model (seeTable 7.5)

TABLE 7.5
DEFAULT EMISSION FACTORS FOR HFC FROM CLOSED-CELL FOAM
Emission Factor

Default Values

Product Lifetimen = 20 years

First Year Losses

10% of the original HFC charge/year, although the value could drop to 5% if significant
recycling takes place during manufacturing.

Annual Losses

4.5% of the original HFC charge/year

Source: Gamlen et al. (1986).

If both historical and current country-specific activity data is available for closed cell foams at the applicationlevel, it is possible to apply the Gamlen model to this information. However, the primary challenge for inventory
compilers is usually in the characterisation of historic activity data at a country level. If such difficulties exist, it
is usually possible to estimate activity data at a country level from the application of geo-economic factors
provided that regional, globally or regionally-validated activity data are known. This approach is covered further
in Section 7.4.2.3.
Where net consumption activity data is available at the sub-application level, either from sources of countryspecific data or from globally or regionally derived activity datasets, it is good practice to use Tier 2 methods
that reflect the level of disaggregation. This is particularly important for foams because of the heterogeneous
nature of the various sub-applications involved. The decision tree in Figure 7.4 describes good practice inselecting methods for estimating emissions.

7.4.2.2

C HOICE OF EMISSION FACTORS

As in other applications, the first choice for emission factors is to develop and use peer-reviewed and well
documented country-specific data based on field research on each foam type (open cell and closed cell) in
support of a Tier 2a approach. As noted previously, if no information is available at the sub-application level,
emission factors can be adopted from the Emission Factor Database (EFDB) or from the data contained in thissection. However, it should be noted that the data contained in this section will not be replaced with updated

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values in the same way as may happen for the EFDB. Either country-specific or globally/regionally-derived
approaches will lead to the necessary assessment of decommissioning losses.15
Figure 7.4

Decision tree for emissions from the foam application
Start

Perform a national end-use
survey to determine closed
cell and open cell foam
applications.

Are
country-specificor globally or regionallyderived activity data
available at the subapplicationlevel?

Collect dataat the subapplicationlevel.

Yes

Yes

Are
countryspecific emission
factors available at the
sub-applicationlevel?

Yes

Calculate emissions by
substance and foam
sub-application, using
country-specific emission
factors and available
disaggregated data
incorporating
decommissioning losses
and recovery anddestruction adjustments,
where appropriate.
Box 2: Tier 2aNoNo

Is this a key
category1?

No

No

Are
default
emission factors
available at the subapplicationlevel?

Calculate emissions by substance,
using country-specific or
globally/regionally derived activity
data at the application level anddefault emission factors.

Yes

Calculate emissions by
substance and foam
sub-application, using
default emission factors
and available
disaggregateddata incorporating
decommissioning losses
and recovery anddestruction adjustments,
where appropriate.
Box 2: Tier 2a

Box 1: Tier 1aNote:
1. See Volume 1 Chapter 4, Methodological Choice and Identification of Key Categories (noting Section 4.1.2 on limited resources), for
discussion of key categories and use of decision trees.

Table 7.6, Default Emission Factors for HFC-134a/HFC-152a (Foam Sub-Application) and Table 7.7, Default
Emission Factors for HFC-245a/HFC-365mfc/HFC-227ea (Foam Sub-Application) lists default emission factors

15

It has also been noted that decommissioning may not necessarily involve total loss of blowing agent at that point, either
because of a level of secondary use or because the item has been discarded intact (e.g., many refrigerators). These could beconsidered as some of the end-of-life management options available to nations, but are clearly less effective than proper
destruction or recovery technologies. Emission models should focus proper attention to end-of-life issues.

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assumptions for the most important current closed-cell foam applications. Use of these factors will require dataon chemical sales at the sub-application level for both current and historic consumption in order that the bank ofchemical in equipment/products for these sub-applications is properly considered.
TABLE 7.6
DEFAULT EMISSION FACTORS FOR HFC-134a AND HFC-152a USES (FOAM SUB-APPLICATIONS )(IPCC/TEAP, 2005)
Product Lifein yearsFirst Year
Loss %

AnnualLoss %

Maximum
Potential Endof-Life Loss %Polyurethane – Integral Skin

12

95

2.5

0

Polyurethane – Continuous Panel

50

10

0.5

65

Polyurethane – Discontinuous Panel

50

12.5

0.5

62.5

Polyurethane – Appliance

15

7

0.5

85.5

15

12.5

0.5

80

50

95

2.5

0

Extruded Polystyrene (XPS)b - HFC-134a

50

25

0.75

37.5

Extruded Polystyrene (XPS) - HFC-152a

50

50

25

0

50

40

3

0

Sub-Application

Polyurethane – Injected
One Component Foam (OCF)

Extruded Polyethylene (PE)aaSource:aAshford and Jeffs (2004) assembled from UNEP FTOC Reports (UNEP-FTOC, 1999; UNEP-FTOC, 2003).

b

Vo and Paquet (2004): An Evaluation of Thermal Conductivity over time for Extruded Polystyrene Foams blown with HFC-134a and
HCFC-142b

Some articles, such as reefers or insulated truck bodies, may spend almost all of their practical lives in transit
between countries. Since these applications have very low in-use emissions it is reasonable if only the
manufacturing and decommissioning losses are taken into account.
TABLE 7.7
DEFAULT EMISSION FACTORS FOR HFC-245fa/HFC-365mfc/HFC-227ea USES (FOAM SUB-APPLICATION)
HFC-245a/HFC-365mfc Applications

Product Lifein yearsFirst Year
Loss %

AnnualLoss %

Maximum
Potential Endof-Life Loss %Polyurethane – Continuous Panel

50

5

0.5

70

Polyurethane – Discontinuous Panel

50

12

0.5

63

Polyurethane – Appliance

15

4

0.25

92.25

Polyurethane – Injected

15

10

0.5

82.5

Polyurethane – Cont. Block

15

20

1

65

Polyurethane – Disc. Block for pipe sections

15

45

0.75

43.75

Polyurethane – Disc. Block for panels

50

15

0.5

60

Polyurethane – Cont. Laminate / Boardstock

25

6

1

69

Polyurethane – Spray

50

15

1.5

10

Polyurethane – Pipe-in-Pipe

50

6

0.25

81.5

Phenolic – Discontinuous Block

15

45

0.75

43.75

Phenolic – Discontinuous Laminate

50

10

1

40

Polyurethane – Integral Skin

12

95

2.5

0

Source: Ashford and Jeffs (2004) assembled from UNEP FTOC Reports (UNEP-FTOC, 1999; UNEP-FTOC, 2003)

If only aggregated chemical sales data for closed-cell foam are available and information on specific foam types
cannot be obtained, the general default emission factors shown in Table 7.5 can be used in support of a Tier 1a2006 IPCC Guidelines for National Greenhouse Gas Inventories

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method. 16 This replicates the previous Tier 2 guidance contained in the Revised 1996 IPCC Guidelines for
National Greenhouse Gas Inventories (IPCC, 1997) but is now classified as a Tier 1a method following theexclusion of potential emission methods for ODS substitutes.
Use of these default emission factors will result in 90 percent of the initial charges being emitted over twenty
years of annual use, after the initial 10 percent during the first year.

7.4.2.3

C HOICE OF ACTIVITY DATA

Two types of activity data are needed in order to prepare the emissions estimates:1.

the amount of chemical used in foam manufacturing in a country and not subsequently exported, and2.

the amount of chemical contained in foam imported into the country.

Data collection issues related to these two areas differ.

Chemical used in foam manufacture
The amount of bulk chemicals used in the foam blowing industry should include both domestically produced andimported HFCs. Domestic chemical sales data to the foam industry should be available directly from chemical
suppliers or foam manufacturers at the application level (Tier 1a) and may extend to a sub-application analysis(Tier 2a). As with other ODS substitute applications, imported chemical data may be available from customs
officials or chemical distributors.
Historic consumption data is required to build an adequate picture of the development of blowing agent banks.
However, this does not apply to open-celled foams which lose their blowing agents in the first year. For opencell foam, all emissions will occur during manufacture, with the exception of the OCF sub-sector mentioned
above. Thus, it is necessary to determine the share of chemical associated with the manufacture of open-celled
foam. These data can be determined through an end-use survey, or approximated by reviewing similar end-use
data gathered on CFCs and HCFCs.

Chemical contained in imported and exported foams
Inventory compilers in countries that export closed-cell foam should subtract these volumes from theircalculations of annual banks and ultimately decommissioning losses, since the in-use emissions will occur in theimporting country. Data on the chemical charge of exported closed-cell foam may be available from large
manufacturers. However, customs data itself is unlikely to yield relevant information on blowing agent typeunless special provisions have been set up by the reporting country.
Similarly, inventory compilers in countries that import products containing closed-cell foam, should include
estimates of emissions from these imported products for completeness. Since the inventory compiler will haveeven less knowledge and control of products manufactured outside of the country than for those manufactured
and subsequently exported, information on the blowing agents contained in closed-cell foam products imported
is even more difficult to collect. Accordingly, inventory compilers in countries whose emissions occur only fromimported closed-cell foam may need to use expert judgement in estimating this data (see Volume 1, Chapters 2
and 3).
In the past, inventory compilers were not able to use international HFC production and consumption data sets todevelop estimates of chemical contained in imported closed-cell foam because these data sets did not include
regional use and trade pattern databases. For example, the Alternative Fluorocarbons Environmental
Acceptability Study (AFEAS) statistics-gathering process compiled global activity data up until 1997 for HFC134a in the foam sector17 but regional breakdowns were unavailable.
To help resolve this problem, some databases now contain national mechanisms to assist inventory compilers bytaking advantage of international HFC/PFC consumption and emission data sets to access globally or regionallyderived activity data and bank estimates for blowing agents contained in closed cell foams within their own
countries. These can be applied within Tier 2a assessments and will provide estimated consumption and bankdata at the sub-application level, to which the default emission factors contained in Tables 7.6 and 7.7 (orupdated versions thereof carried in the EFDB or elsewhere) can be applied.

16

No emission factors are provided for open-cell foams because all emissions occur during the first year.

17

HFC-134a is the most commonly used HFC. AFEAS data can found at http://www.afeas.org.

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Chapter 7: Emissions of Fluorinated Substitutes for Ozone Depleting Substances

7.4.2.4

S UMMARISING THE PRIMARY METHODS

Stepwise through the Tier 2a method using proxy data
The Box 7.2 illustrates the typical steps required to implement a Tier 2a method using proxy data:
BOX 7.2
TIER 2a IMPLEMENTATION FOR THE FOAM APPLICATION USING GLOBALLY OR REGIONALLY DERIVED DATA

There are up to 16 sub-applications in the foam sector. A reporting country needs to consider
which of these sub-applications are relevant to its situation and carry out the following steps foreach such process/application.
Consumption
1.

Identify the tonnage of foam used in the process/application

2.

Establish the average density for the foam used in the process/application and hence foamvolume (‘foam volume per unit’ is the commonly used metric for houses and buildings)

3.

Identify the number of houses built in the year or appliances manufactured/sold in the year todetermine a nominal foam volume ratio (foam volume per unit)

4.

Assess growth trends in both the number of units and the foam volume ratio and apply thesetrends to estimate the tonnage of foam for previous and future years (i.e., years in which datafrom Step 3 might not be available).

5.

Assess the market split, or share of various blowing agents (chemicals) used for eachprocess/application. Particular care should be taken when dealing with blends.

6.

Identify typical foam formulations for each blowing agent type and apply these formulations
to the proportion of the process/application using that blowing agent.

7.

Multiply the foam tonnage by the formulation (weight/weight) and market share details to
obtain blowing agent consumption by blowing agent type (typically up to 14 types).

8.

Cross-check with any sales information available on specific blowing agents at country-level.

Emissions-in-Use
9.

Establish the first year loss rate for the process/application. Multiply this loss rate by thechemical consumption to estimate losses emanating from this phase. These emissions should
be added to the other sources of emission.

10. The balance of the non-emitted consumption for that year is added to the bank of blowing
agent stored in that process/application.
11. Apply a linear emission rate to banked materials, thus eliminating the need to run parallelmodels based on the vintage of the bank contribution.
12. Apply the average in-use emission rate to the bank and add the resulting emissions to theemissions total.
13. Based on the predicted average product life, establish how much of the bank will be
decommissioned in the current year and subtract it from the bank.
Decommissioning, recovery and destruction
14. There are a number of end-of-life options for foams, but good practice suggests that four
major options should be considered:a. Re-useb. Landfill without shreddingc. Shredding without recovery
d. Total recovery and capture (including shredding with recovery, direct incineration etc.)2006 IPCC Guidelines for National Greenhouse Gas Inventories

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15. The decommissioned portions of the banks for a given year should be ascribed to the four
options outlined above in proportion to the practice of the country.
16. Emission factors during decommissioning and other end-of-life management steps should beestablished. These should then be applied to the decommissioned portions of theprocess/application. These emissions should be added to the other sources of emission. The
maximum emission factors in Tables 7.6 and 7.7 should be applied only where instantaneous
release can reasonably be assumed to occur.
17. Where emissions from end-of-life management may be on-going (e.g., re-use, landfill andshredding without recovery), further end-of-life banks should be established to keep track of
accumulation of blowing agents and to estimate the on-going annual emissions from thesesources.
18. Annual emission factors for each of these sources should be applied to the end-of-life banks.
These emissions should be added to the other sources of emission.

Using the Tier 1a method based on Gamlen model
As a more limited alternative, it is possible to use a Tier 1a method based on the Gamlen model (Table 7.5) toestimate emissions from the total bank of closed cell foam in a country. The following spreadsheet excerpt
illustrates the method18:
Example of spreadsheet calculation for Tier 1a method

Current Year
Year of Introduction
Emission in first year
Emission in subsequent years

Belgium
HFC-134a
Leave blank to use database value
Leave blank to use database value
2005 (Year for which estimate is made)1993
10% (Emissions from manufacture and installation)
4.50% (Annual in-use losses)

Emissions from closed cell foams
Emissions from open cell foams(Bank of agent in closed cell foams

55.4 tonnes
0.8 tonnes
635.9 tonnes)
Emissions from Open Cell
Foams

Year

0
1
2
3

2005
2004
2003
2002

interpolated
consumption
data

Age

Known
Consumption
data (tonnes)

Emissions from Closed Cell Foams

emission in
first year

133.6

133.6
123.3
113.1
102.8

13.4
12.3
11.3
10.3

emissionfrom bank

bank

total
emission

42.1
36.1
30.5
25.4

635.9
557.8
482.9
411.6

55.4
48.4
41.8
35.7

interpolated
consumption
dataCountry
Agent
Closed Cell Foam Consumption
Open Cell Foam Consumption

Known
consumption
data (tonnes)

Figure 7.5

emission in
first year

0.828939

0.8
0.7
0.6
0.5

0.8
0.7
0.6
0.5

In this instance, Belgium is estimated to have consumed 133.6 tonnes of HFC-134a for closed cell foams in 2005
and to have emitted 13.4 tonnes from first year foam manufacturing activities, and 42.1 tonnes emissions fromthe accrued bank of foams, making a total of 55.4 tonnes of HFC-134a from closed cell foams in 2005. This
assessment is based on the understanding that HFC-134a was introduced substantively in Belgium in 1993, so
the estimate includes 13 years of data. The overall approach, when based on regionally derived data, assumes
that the average uptake of HFC-134a-based technologies in Europe is reflected in the country in question.
This method has particular attraction for countries and regions that have low rates of foam consumption (e.g.,developing countries), and where the foam volume ratio in buildings is low and emissions are likely to beminimal over the effective period of these Guidelines. However, for the regions consuming larger volumes of
HFCs in buildings, Tier 2 methods are strongly recommended to avoid the misallocation of consumption and, inparticular, emissions because of the assumptions implicit in the Gamlen model (Table 7.5) and the averaging of
consumption patterns.
18

Where introduction is slow, the ‘year of introduction’ should be taken as the first year of substantive use.

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Chapter 7: Emissions of Fluorinated Substitutes for Ozone Depleting Substances

7.4.2.5

C OMPLETENESSAt least sixteen foam potential sub-applications and five potential chemicals used as blowing agents (HFC-134a,
HFC-152a, HFC-245fa, HFC-365mfc and HFC-227ea) have been identified within the foam application. For
completeness, inventory compilers should determine whether HFC blowing agents are used in each subapplication being practised in their countries, which suggests up to 80 theoretically possible combinations (seeTable 7.4, Use of HFCs in the Foam Blowing Industry). In practice, this list reduces to 53 realistic potential
chemical/application combinations, although there are some potential regional variations.
It should also be noted that, at this stage, the methods described do not explicitly address the use of blends,
although, in theory, this should be covered in the chemical-by-chemical assessment. The challenge, as withrefrigerants (see Section 7.5) will be one of activity monitoring and reporting. The use of blends is undoubtedly
increasing and may include combinations of, for example, HFC-245fa and HFC-365mfc. Blends of HFC-365mfc
with minor proportions of HFC-227ea are also being introduced by one manufacturer. However, it is premature
at this stage to assign different emission factors to such systems.

7.4.2.6

D EVELOPING A CONSISTENT TIME SERIESAn inventory compiler should maintain a consistent method in assessing its emissions over the time period. If,
for example, no system is established to monitor actual decommissioning at the outset of the inventory process,it will be very difficult to obtain data retrospectively if a change from globally or regionally-derived to countryspecific data is considered. This decision should therefore be the subject of careful consideration at the outset ofthe reporting process. Any recalculation of estimates should be done according to the guidance provided inVolume 1, Chapter 5. In contrast, changes in approach for Activity Level determinations will be easier toimplement retrospectively.

7.4.3

Uncertainty assessment

For net consumption activity data, current sales data indicate that the global estimates are accurate to within 10
percent, regional estimates are in the 30 - 40 percent range, and the uncertainty of country specific consumption
information may be more than 50 percent. It should be noted that the calculation of the total emissions for a year
will be only partially dependent on the accuracy of estimates of new consumption in that year. The remainder ofthe emissions will arise from banked blowing agent in installed foam and from those foams decommissioned inthat year. The estimation of these contributors will depend fundamentally on the accuracy of historic
consumption data.
Using Approach A (emission-factor approach), emission factors will add to the uncertainties, particularly if only
default emission factors can be used. Since decommissioning will be the trigger for the majority of emissions inmany cases, the product end-of-life assumptions may introduce the greatest degree of uncertainty. It is therefore
very important that inventory compilers keep records of their estimates of HFC-containing products and develop
some mechanism for monitoring actual decommissioning if possible. These records may help ensure that thesummed emissions do not exceed total inputs over time.

7.4.4
7.4.4.1

Quality Assurance/Quality Control (QA/QC),
Reporting and Documentation
Q UALITY A SSURANCE /Q UALITY C ONTROL

It is good practice to conduct quality control checks as outlined in Volume 1, Chapter 6, and an expert review ofthe emissions estimates. Additional quality control checks as outlined in Volume 1, and quality assurance
procedures may also be applicable, particularly if higher tier methods are used to determine emissions from thisapplication. Inventory compilers are encouraged to use higher tier QA/QC for key categories as identified inVolume 1, Chapter 4.
One of the main concerns will be to ensure that the preservation of the integrity of regional and global data will
be maintained by the summation of individual country estimates and a major part of the QA/QC review process
will need to concern itself with this cross reference.

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7.4.4.2

R EPORTING AND D OCUMENTATION

Emissions factors should be reported, along with documentation for the development of country-specific data.
Chemical sales to the foam blowing industry should be reported in a manner that addresses confidentiality
concerns. Most confidentiality issues arising from any data collection process relate to the most highly
concentrated activities. To deal with this, emissions from foam could be reported as a single number, provided
that the development of the number could be reviewed under suitable terms of confidentiality. Of course, adeclaration of consolidated emissions from manufacture (first year), use (product life) and decommissioning(end-of-life) will always be preferable to allow continued focus on improvements being made in each of theseareas. If inventory compilers use activity data derived from global or regional databases, they should report theresults of how they allocated emissions to the country level.

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Chapter 7: Emissions of Fluorinated Substitutes for Ozone Depleting Substances

7.5

REFRIGERATION AND AIR CONDITIONING

7.5.1

Chemicals covered in this application area

Refrigeration and air-conditioning (RAC) systems may be classified in up to six sub-application domains or
categories (UNEP-RTOC, 2003), although less sub-applications are typically used at a single country level.
These categories correspond to sub-applications that may differ by location and purpose, and are listed below:(i)Domestic (i.e., household) refrigeration,(ii)

Commercial refrigeration including different types of equipment, from vending machines tocentralised refrigeration systems in supermarkets,(iii)

Industrial processes including chillers, cold storage, and industrial heat pumps used in the food,
petrochemical and other industries,(iv)

Transport refrigeration including equipment and systems used in refrigerated trucks, containers,
reefers, and wagons,(v)

Stationary air conditioning including air-to-air systems, heat pumps, and chillers19 for building andresidential applications,(vi)

Mobile air-conditioning systems used in passenger cars, truck cabins, buses, and trains.20

For all these sub-applications, different HFCs are progressively replacing CFCs and HCFCs. For example, indeveloped and several developing countries, HFC-134a has replaced CFC-12 in domestic refrigeration, highpressure chillers and mobile air conditioning systems, and blends of HFCs such as R-407C (HFC-32/HFC125/HFC-134a) and R-410A (HFC-32/HFC-125) are replacing HCFC-22 mainly in stationary air conditioning.
HFC blends R-404A (HFC-125/HFC-143a/HFC-134a) and R-507A (HFC-125/HFC-143a) have replaced R-502(CFC-22/CFC-115) and HCFC-22 in commercial refrigeration. Other, non-HFC substances are also used toreplace CFCs and HCFCs such as iso-butane (HC-600a) in domestic refrigeration or ammonia in industrial
refrigeration.
A large number of blends containing HFCs and/or PFCs are being used in Refrigeration and Air Conditioning
applications. Table 7.8 shows the most common of these blends.

19

Comfort air conditioning in large commercial buildings (including hotels, offices, hospitals, universities, etc.) is commonly
provided by water chillers coupled with an air handling and distribution system.

20

The sub-application of mobile air conditioning systems is likely to represent the largest share of HFC emissions within the
Refrigeration and Air Conditioning application for many countries. See Section 7.5.2.4, Applying Tier 2 Methods – The
Example Of Mobile Air Conditioning (MAC), for an example of how to calculate these emissions. The reader will see that
limited information is needed to approximate these emissions, and essentially becomes a simple multiplication of an
average emission factor and the number of cars with HFC air conditioning, and possibly adding emissions relating tocontainer management, charging and end-of-life.

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TABLE 7.8
BLENDS (MANY CONTAINING HFCS AND/OR PFCS)

1

Blend

Constituents

Composition (%)

R-400
R-401A
R-401B
R-401C
R-402A
R-402B
R-403A
R-403B
R-404A
R-405A
R-406A
R-407A
R-407B
R-407C
R-407D
R-407E
R-408A
R-409A
R-409B
R-410AR-410B
R-411A
R-411B
R-411C
R-412A
R-413A
R-414A
R-414B
R-415A
R-415B
R-416A
R-417A
R-418A
R-419A
R-420A
R-421A
R-421B
R-422A
R-422B
R-422C
R-500
R-501
R-502
R-503
R-504
R-505
R-506
R-507A
R-508A
R-508B
R-509A

CFC-12/CFC-114
HCFC-22/HFC-152a/HCFC-124
HCFC-22/HFC-152a/HCFC-124
HCFC-22/HFC-152a/HCFC-124
HFC-125/HC-290/HCFC-22
HFC-125/HC-290/HCFC-22
HC-290/HCFC-22/PFC-218
HC-290/HCFC-22/PFC-218
HFC-125/HFC-143a/HFC-134a
HCFC-22/ HFC-152a/ HCFC-142b/PFC-318
HCFC-22/HC-600a/HCFC-142b
HFC-32/HFC-125/HFC-134a
HFC-32/HFC-125/HFC-134a
HFC-32/HFC-125/HFC-134a
HFC-32/HFC-125/HFC-134a
HFC-32/HFC-125/HFC-134a
HFC-125/HFC-143a/HCFC-22
HCFC-22/HCFC-124/HCFC-142b
HCFC-22/HCFC-124/HCFC-142b
HFC-32/HFC-125
HFC-32/HFC-125
HC-1270/HCFC-22/HFC-152a
HC-1270/HCFC-22/HFC-152a
HC-1270/HCFC-22/HFC-152a
HCFC-22/PFC-218/HCFC-142b
PFC-218/HFC-134a/HC-600a
HCFC-22/HCFC-124/HC-600a/HCFC-142b
HCFC-22/HCFC-124/HC-600a/HCFC-142b
HCFC-22/HFC-152a
HCFC-22/HFC-152a
HFC-134a/HCFC-124/HC-600
HFC-125/HFC-134a/HC-600
HC-290/HCFC-22/HFC-152a
HFC-125/HFC-134a/HE-E170
HFC-134a/HCFC-142b
HFC-125/HFC-134a
HFC-125/HFC-134a
HFC-125/HFC-134a/HC-600a
HFC-125/HFC-134a/HC-600a
HFC-125/HFC-134a/HC-600a
CFC-12/HFC-152a
HCFC-22/CFC-12
HCFC-22/CFC-115
HFC-23/CFC-13
HFC-32/CFC-115
CFC-12/HCFC-31
CFC-31/CFC-114
HFC-125/HFC-143a
HFC-23/PFC-116
HFC-23/PFC-116
HCFC-22/PFC-218

Should be specified1(53.0/13.0/34.0)(61.0/11.0/28.0)(33.0/15.0/52.0)(60.0/2.0/38.0)(38.0/2.0/60.0)(5.0/75.0/20.0)(5.0/56.0/39.0)(44.0/52.0/4.0)(45.0/7.0/5.5/42.5)(55.0/14.0/41.0)(20.0/40.0/40.0)(10.0/70.0/20.0)(23.0/25.0/52.0)(15.0/15.0/70.0)(25.0/15.0/60.0)(7.0/46.0/47.0)(60.0/25.0/15.0)(65.0/25.0/10.0)(50.0/50.0)(45.0/55.0)(1.5/87.5/11.0)(3.0/94.0/3.0)(3.0/95.5/1.5)(70.0/5.0/25.0)(9.0/88.0/3.0)(51.0/28.5/4.0/16.5)(50.0/39.0/1.5/9.5)(82.0/18.0)(25.0/75.0)(59.0/39.5/1.5)(46.6/50.0/3.4)(1.5/96.0/2.5)(77.0/19.0/4.0)(88.0/12.0)(58.0/42.0)(85.0/15.0)(85.1/11.5/3.4)(55.0/42.0/3.0)(82.0/15.0/3.0)(73.8/26.2)(75.0/25.0)(48.8/51.2)(40.1/59.9)(48.2/51.8)(78.0/22.0)(55.1/44.9)(50.0/50.0)(39.0/61.0)(46.0/54.0)(44.0/56.0)

R-400 can have various proportions of CFC-12 and CFC-114. The exact composition needs to be specified, e.g., R-400 (60/40).

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Chapter 7: Emissions of Fluorinated Substitutes for Ozone Depleting Substances

7.5.2

Methodological issues

7.5.2.1

C HOICE OF METHODAs discussed in the introductory section to this chapter, both Tier 1 and Tier 2 result in estimates of actual
emissions rather than estimates of potential emissions. Actual estimates, which account for the lag between
consumption and emissions, are particularly important for both the refrigeration and air conditioning sector
because of the potentially long retention of refrigerants in products and equipment utilised in these applications.
The options available to the refrigeration and air conditioning application are shown in the decision tree shownin Figure 7.6.

TIER 1
Tier 1 a/b
It is expected that the refrigeration and air conditioning will be a key category for many countries. The
implication of this conclusion from Table 7.2 and the decision tree in Figure 7.6 is that either country-specific or
globally or regionally derived activity data will be required at the sub-application (disaggregated) level in order
to complete the reporting task. However, in the rare instances that the refrigeration and air conditioning
application is much less significant, there should be available a suitable Tier 1 method for aggregated data.
From experience of studying the dynamics of refrigerant consumption and banks in several countries (UNEPRTOC, 2003; Ashford, Clodic, Kuijpers and McCulloch, 2004; and supporting materials), it is possible to derive
assumptions that allow for the assessment of the use of refrigerant that may help in assessing sales of a given
refrigerant at a country level. Such a hybrid Tier 1a/b approach may use the following assumptions:
1.

Servicing of equipment containing the refrigerant does not commence until 3 years after the equipment
is installed.

2.

Emissions from banked refrigerants average 15 percent annually across the whole RAC application area.
This assumption is estimated to be a weighed average across all sub-applications, for which default
emission factors are shown in Table 7.9.

3.

In a mature market two thirds of the sales of a refrigerant are used for servicing and one third is used tocharge new equipment. A mature market is one in which ODS substitute-employing refrigerationequipment is in wide use, and there are relationships between suppliers and users to purchase andservice equipment.

4.

The average equipment lifetime is 15 years. This assumption is also estimated to be a weighed average
across all sub-applications.

5.

The complete transition to a new refrigerant technology will take place over a 10 year period. Fromexperiences to date, this assumption is believed to be valid for a single chemical in a single country.

With these assumptions in place, it is possible to derive emissions, if the following data can be provided:•

Sales of a specific refrigerant in the year to be reported•

Year of introduction of the refrigerant•

Growth rate in sales of new equipment (usually assumed linear across the period of assessment)•

Assumed percentage of new equipment exported•

Assumed percentage of new equipment imported

The Tier 1a/b method then back-calculates the development of banks of a refrigerant from the current reporting
year to the year of its introduction. In mapping this period, the method also models the transition from sales to
new equipment (100 percent initially) to the mature market position assumed based on experience to be 33
percent to new equipment and 67 percent to servicing requirements. It is assumed that the transition to newrefrigerant technology is reflected identically in any imported equipment.

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Volume 3: Industrial Processes and Product Use

Figure 7.6

Decision tree for actual emissions from the refrigeration and air conditioning(RAC) application
Start

Box 3: Tier 2a
Use Tier 2a method(Equations 7.10-7.14)
Yes

Are the activity data
disaggregated at the subapplication level (the 6 RAC
areas) available?

Yes

Are
the country-specific,
regionally or globally derived
emission factors
available?
No
Use Tier 2b methodNo

Box 2: Tier 2b

Is this a key
category1?

Are
country-specificor proxy activity data at theapplication level (RAC)
available?

No

Yes

No

Obtain country-specific activity
data disaggregated at the subapplication level (the 6 RAC areas).

Find appropriate sources of countryspecific, regionally or globally derived
activity data at the application level.

Use default composite
emission factors.

Are
country-specificcomposite emission factors
available?

No

Use Tier 1a/b method

Yes

Yes

Box 1: Tier 1
Note:
1. See Volume 1 Chapter 4, Methodological Choice and Identification of Key Categories (noting Section 4.1.2 on limited resources), for
discussion of key categories and use of decision trees.

The following spreadsheet example indicates how the Tier 1a/b method would estimate a seven-year time seriesof emissions of the selected refrigerant, following its initial introduction in 1998, with the knowledge that there
were sales of 1 000 tonnes in 2005. The spreadsheet contained in the 2006 Guidelines CDROM mirrors thiscalculation, and globally or regionally derived datasets21 at both application and consolidated sub-applicationlevels should be available at a country level to assist in completion of this spreadsheet.
21

As noted in Box 7.1, inclusion in the IPCC Emission Factor Database (EFDB) will indicate general adherence to due
process, but it is good practice for countries to ensure that all data taken from the EFDB are appropriate for their national
circumstances.

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Chapter 7: Emissions of Fluorinated Substitutes for Ozone Depleting Substances

Figure 7.7

Example of spreadsheet calculation for Tier 1a/b assessments

Tier 1 Refrigeration
Argentina - HFC-143a

SummaryCountry: Argentina
Agent: HFC-143a
Year: 2005

HFC-143a

Emission: 460.7 tonnes
In Bank: 3071.1 tonnes

Current Year

2005
500

Use in current year - 2005 (tonnes)

Data
Used
Here

450
400

Production of HFC-143a
Imports in current Year
Exports in current year
Total new agent to domestic market

800
200
0
1000

350

Year of Introduction of HFC-143a
Growth Rate in New Equipment Sales

1998
3.0%

150

300
250
200

100
50

Tier 1 Defaults
Assumed Equipment Lifetime (years)

15

Emission Factor from installed base15%

% of HFC-143a destroyed at End-of-Life

0%

0
1996

1998

2000

2002

2004

2006

2008

2010

2012

2014

1996
0
0
0

1997
0
0
0

1998
81
0
20

1999
167
0
42

2000
259
0
65

2001
355
0
89

2002
458
0
114

2003
566
0
141

2004
680
0
170

2005
800
0
200

2006
0
0
0

Total New Agent in Domestic Equipment

0

0

102

209

323

444

572

707

850

1000

0

Agent in Retired Equipment
Destruction of agent in retired equipment
Release of agent from retired equipment

0
0
0

0
0
0

0
0
0

0
0
0

0
0
0

0
0
0

0
0
0

0
0
0

0
0
0

0
0
0

0
0
0

Bank
Emission

0
0

0
0

102
15

296
44

575
86

933
140

1365
205

1867
280

2437
365

3071
461

2610
#N/A

Estimated data for earlier years
Production
Agent in Exports
Agent in Imports

In this hypothetical example, the production of a specific refrigerant are 800 tonnes with an additional 200
tonnes in imported equipment, in 2005 making a total consumption of 1 000 tonnes. Based on this consumption
figure and knowledge of the year of introduction of the refrigerant, it can be seen that the Tier 1a/b method
predicts emissions of 461 tonnes based on the development of banks over the previous seven years. The bank in2005 is estimated at 3 071 tonnes.
It should be noted that, while such methods allow for the estimation of emissions when data are difficult toobtain, it is still necessary to have an accurate assessment of country-specific or globally or regionally derived
net consumption activity data. When the content of Table 7.8 is considered (particularly when some of theseblends may be being imported in equipment) it is clear that there needs to be considerable knowledge oftechnology selection in the market. Refrigerant suppliers should be able to assist inventory compilers in this area,
but the burden of developing high quality activity datasets may lead inventory compilers to the conclusion that
Tier 2 options provide more value with little extra work. Indeed, where globally or regionally validated data
activity is sought, this will normally be a reconstitution of disaggregated data originally at the sub-applicationlevel, so it might be most logical to take full advantage of that versatility and pursue a Tier 2 approach from theoutset.

TIER 2
Overview
The Tier 2a methodology:a)Takes into account the phase out or the phase down of CFCs and HCFCs depending on the Montreal
Protocol schedule and possible national or regional regulations, in order to establish the refrigerant
choice for all applications;b) Defines the typical refrigerant charge and the equipment lifetime per sub-application;c)Defines the emission factors for refrigerant charge, during operation, at servicing and at end-of-life.

Calculation of emissions throughout the equipment lifetime requires deriving the total stock of equipment
independent of their vintage. In doing so the refrigerant bank is established per sub-application.

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In order to achieve consistency it is suggested to derive the annual market of refrigerants from the refrigerant
quantities charged in the brand new equipment and from the refrigerant quantities used for servicing of the total
stock of equipment.
The Tier 2b mass-balance approach relies on a knowledge of the annual sales of refrigerant, refrigerant destroyed
and any changes in equipment stock that occur (i.e., new equipment sales and equipment decommissioned) on a
sub-application basis. It does not require an absolute knowledge of equipment stocks or emission factors relating
to each refrigeration and air conditioning sub-application.
Examples of how the Tier 2 methodology may be applied are given in the remainder of this section.

Tier 2b - Mass-balance approach
The mass-balance approach is particularly applicable to the Refrigeration and Air Conditioning application
because of the significant servicing component required to maintain equipment. The general approach to Tier 2b
is introduced in Chapter 1 of Volume 3.
For the mass-balance approach, the four emission stages (charging, operation servicing and end-of-life)
identified above are addressed in the following simplified equation:
EQUATION 7.9
DETERMINATION OF REFRIGERANT EMISSIONS BY MASS BALANCE
Emissions = Annual Sales of New Refrigerant − Total Charge of New Equipment+ Original Total Charge of Retiring Equipment − Amount of Intentional Destruction
Annual Sales of New Refrigerant is the amount of a chemical introduced into the refrigeration sector in aparticular country in a given year. It includes all chemical used to fill or refill equipment, whether the chemical ischarged into equipment at the factory, charged into equipment after installation, or used to recharge equipment atservicing. It does not include recycled or reclaimed chemical.
Total Charge of New Equipment is the sum of the full charges of all the new equipment that is sold in the
country in a given year. It includes both the chemical required to fill equipment in the factory and the chemical
required to fill the equipment after installation. It does not include charging emissions or chemical used torecharge equipment at servicing.
Original Total Charge of Retiring Equipment is the sum of the full charges of all the retiring equipment
decommissioned in a country in a given year. It assumes that the equipment will have been serviced right up to
its decommissioning and will therefore contain its original charge.
Amount of Intentional Destruction is that quantity of the chemical duly destroyed by a recognised destruction
technology.
In each country there is a stock of existing refrigeration equipment that contains an existing stock of refrigerant
chemical (bank). Therefore, annual sales of new chemical refrigerant must be used for one of three purposes:•

To increase the size of the existing chemical stock (bank) in use (including retrofitting equipment from aprevious chemical to the given chemical)•

To replace that fraction of last year’s stock of chemical that was emitted to the atmosphere (through, forexample, leaks or servicing losses)•

To provide supply-chain priming or stockpiles

Since the third item in this list is rarely required in a steady-state market, it is not included in Equation 7.9.
Terms to account for stockpiling and retrofitting could be added to Equation 7.9 if such situations exist.
The difference between the total quantity of gas sold and the quantity of that gas used to increase the size of thechemical stock equals the amount of chemical emitted to the atmosphere. The increase in the size of the chemical
stock is equal to the difference between the total charges of the new and retiring equipment.
By using data on current and historical sales of gas, rather than emission factors referenced from literature, theequation reflects assembly, operation, and disposal emissions at the time and place where they occur. Default
emission factors may not be accurate because emissions rates may vary considerably from country to country
and even within a single country.
As discussed in Chapter 1, Section 1.5 of Volume 3, one drawback of the mass-balance approach is that it canunderestimate emissions when equipment stocks are growing, because there is a lag between the time theemissions occur and the time they are detected (through equipment servicing). This underestimate will be
relatively large in countries where HFCs have been used in equipment for less than ten years, because much of

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Chapter 7: Emissions of Fluorinated Substitutes for Ozone Depleting Substances

the equipment will have leaked without ever being serviced. Thus, countries where HFCs have been used for lessthan ten years are encouraged to estimate emissions using alternative approaches. In general, the longer HFCs
are used in a country, the smaller the underestimate associated with the mass-balance approach. Once equipment
containing HFCs begins to retire, the underestimate declines to a low level.
Equation 7.9 can be applied either to individual types of equipment (sub-applications), or more generally to all
air conditioning and refrigeration equipment in a country (i.e., Tier 1b), depending on the level of disaggregationof available data. If disaggregated data are available, emissions estimates developed for each type of equipment
and chemical are summed to determine total emissions for the application.

Tier 2a – Emission-factor approach
In a Tier 2a calculation, refrigerant emissions at a year t from each of the six22 sub-applications of refrigeration
and air conditioning systems are calculated separately. These emissions result from:•

Econtainers,t = emissions related to the management of refrigerant containers•

Echarge,t = emissions related to the refrigerant charge: connection and disconnection of the refrigerant
container and the new equipment to be charged•

Elifetime,t = annual emissions from the banks of refrigerants associated with the six sub-applications during
operation (fugitive emissions and ruptures) and servicing•

Eend-of-life,t = emissions at system disposal

All these quantities are expressed in kilograms and have to be calculated for each type of HFC used in the six
different sub-applications.
EQUATION 7.10
SUMMARY OF SOURCES OF EMISSIONS
E total ,t = E containers ,t + E Charge,t + E lifetime ,t + E end − of −life ,tMethods for estimating average emission rates for the above-mentioned sectors are outlined below and need tobe calculated on a refrigerant by refrigerant basis for all equipment regardless of their vintage. If information on
container and charging emissions is not available, inventory compilers can estimate these losses as a percent of
the bank and revise the lifetime (operation plus servicing) emission factor in Equation 7.13 below to account forsuch losses.

Refrigerant management of containers
The emissions related to the refrigerant container management comprises all the emissions related to therefrigerant transfers from bulk containers (typically 40 tonnes) down to small capacities where the mass varies
from 0.5 kg (disposable cans) to 1 tonne (containers) and also from the remaining quantities - the so-called
refrigerant heels (vapour and /or liquid) - left in the various containers, which are recovered or emitted.
EQUATION 7.11
SOURCES OF EMISSIONS FROM MANAGEMENT OF CONTAINERS
c
Econtainers , t = RM t •100
Where:
Econtainers, t = emissions from all HFC containers in year t, kg
RMt = HFC market for new equipment and servicing of all refrigeration application in year t, kg
c = emission factor of HFC container management of the current refrigerant market, percent
The emissions related to the complete refrigerant management of containers are estimated between 2 and 10
percent of the refrigerant market.

Refrigerant charge emissions of new equipment
The emissions of refrigerant due to the charging process of new equipment are related to the process ofconnecting and disconnecting the refrigerant container to and from the equipment when it is initially charged.
22

More than six sub-applications can be used, depending on the level of disaggregated data available.

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EQUATION 7.12
SOURCES OF EMISSIONS WHEN CHARGING NEW EQUIPMENT
E ch arg e , t = M t •k100

Where:
Echarge, t = emissions during system manufacture/assembly in year t, kg
Mt = amount of HFC charged into new equipment in year t (per sub-application), kg
k = emission factor of assembly losses of the HFC charged into new equipment (per sub-application),
percent
Note: the emissions related to the process of connecting and disconnecting during servicing are covered in
Equation 7.13.
The amount charged (Mt) should include all systems which are charged in the country, including those which areproduced for export. Systems that are imported pre-charged should not be considered.
Typical range for the emission factor k varies from 0.1 to 3 percent. The emissions during the charging process
are very different for factory assembled systems where the emissions are low (see Table 7.9) than for fielderected systems where emissions can be up to 2 percent.

Emissions during lifetime (operation and servicing)Annual leakage from the refrigerant banks represent fugitive emissions, i.e., leaks from fittings, joints, shaft seals,
etc. but also ruptures of pipes or heat exchangers leading to partial or full release of refrigerant to the atmosphere.
Besides component failures, such as compressor burn-out, equipment is serviced mainly when the refrigerating
capacity is too low due to loss of refrigerant from fugitive emissions. Depending on the application, servicing
will be done for instance every year or every three years, or sometimes not at all during the entire lifetime suchas in domestic refrigeration sub-applications. For some sub-applications, leaks have to be fixed during servicing
and refrigerant recovery may be necessary, so the recovery efficiency has to be taken into account whenestimating emission factors. In addition, knowing the annual refrigerant needs for servicing per sub-application
allows the determination of the national refrigerant market by adding the refrigerant quantities charged in new
equipment (see Paragraph Quality assurance/Quality control). The following calculation formula applies:
EQUATION 7.13
SOURCES OF EMISSIONS DURING EQUIPMENT LIFETIMEx
Elifetime, t = Bt •100
Where:
Elifetime, t = amount of HFC emitted during system operation in year t, kg
Bt = amount of HFC banked in existing systems in year t (per sub-application), kg
x = annual emission rate (i.e., emission factor) of HFC of each sub-application bank during operation,accounting for average annual leakage and average annual emissions during servicing, percent
In calculating the refrigerant bank (Bt) all systems in operation in the country (produced domestically andimported) have to be considered on a sub-application by sub-application basis.
Examples of typical leakage rates (x) for various types of equipment describing the respective refrigeration subapplications are given in Table 7.9.

Emissions at end-of-life
The amount of refrigerant released from scrapped systems depends on the amount of refrigerant left at the timeof disposal, and the portion recovered. From a technical point of view, the major part of the remaining fluid canbe recovered, but recovery at end-of-life depends on regulations, financial incentives, and environmental
consciousness.
The following calculation formula (Equation 7.14) is applicable to estimate emissions at system disposal:

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Chapter 7: Emissions of Fluorinated Substitutes for Ozone Depleting Substances

EQUATION 7.14
EMISSIONS AT SYSTEM END-OF-LIFE

Eend −of −life, t = M t −d •ηrec, dp
• (1 −)
100
100

Where:
Eend-of-life, t = amount of HFC emitted at system disposal in year t, kg
Mt-d = amount of HFC initially charged into new systems installed in year (t-d), kg
p = residual charge of HFC in equipment being disposed of expressed in percentage of full charge,
percentηrec,d = recovery efficiency at disposal, which is the ratio of recovered HFC referred to the HFC containedin the system, percent
In estimating the amount of refrigerant initially charged into the systems (M t-d), all systems charged in the
country (for the domestic market) and systems imported pre-charged should be taken into account.

7.5.2.2

C HOICE OF EMISSION FACTORS

Tier 1a/b method
As explained within Section 7.5.2.1, Choice of Method, a composite emission factor is required to complete a
Tier 1 method. Since the sub-applications within the refrigeration and air conditioning application are relatively
heterogeneous, the validity of any single composite emission factor must be in doubt unless it takes into
consideration the particular mix of sub-applications in the country. It is therefore good practice to develop
composite emission factors on the basis of research within the country. The over-arching default emissions factorof 15 percent of the bank annually is used in the example of spreadsheet calculation contained in the 2006
Guidelines CDROM attached to these Guidelines.

Tier 2a method
Good practice for choosing emission factors is to use country-specific data, based on information provided byequipment manufacturers, service providers, disposal companies, and independent studies. When national data
are unavailable, inventory compilers should use the default emission factors shown in Table 7.9, Estimates for
Charge, Lifetime and Emission Factors, which summarises best estimates of equipment charge, lifetime, andemission factors. These default values reflect the current state of knowledge about the industry, and are provided
as ranges rather than point estimates. The lower end of the lifetime and emission factor ranges is intended toindicate the status within developed countries, while the upper end of each range is intended to indicate the status
within developing countries. Inventory compilers should choose from the range according to country-specificconditions, and document the reasons for their choices. If data collected from the field cannot be broken down
into the sub-applications as in Table 7.9, it is good practice to use expert judgement to estimate the relative shareof each type of equipment, and calculate composite emission factors weighted according to that relative share, as
proposed for Tier 1a/b, or use the emission factor appropriate to the most common type(s) of equipment.

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TABLE 7.9
ESTIMATES1 FOR CHARGE, LIFETIME AND EMISSION FACTORS FOR REFRIGERATION AND AIR-CONDITIONING SYSTEMS
Sub-application

Charge (kg)Lifetimes(years)2

Factor in Equation

(M)

(d)

1

Emission Factors (% ofinitial charge/year)3End-of-Life
Emission (%)

(k)

(x)

(ηrec,d)(p)InitialEmission

Operation
Emission

Recovery
Efficiency4

InitialChargeRemaining

Domestic
Refrigeration

0.05 ≤ M ≤0.5

12 ≤ d ≤ 20

0.2 ≤ k ≤ 1

0.1 ≤ x ≤ 0.5

0 < ηrec,d <70

0 < p < 80Stand-alone
Commercial
Applications

0.2 ≤ M≤ 6

10 ≤ d ≤ 15

0.5 ≤ k ≤ 3

1 ≤ x ≤ 15

0 < ηrec,d <70

0 < p < 80

Medium & Large
Commercial
Refrigeration

50 ≤ M ≤2000

7 ≤ d ≤ 15

0.5 ≤ k ≤ 3

10 ≤ x ≤ 35

0 < ηrec,d <70

50 < p <100

Transport
Refrigeration

3≤M≤8

6≤d≤9

0.2 ≤ k ≤ 1

15 ≤ x ≤ 50

0 < ηrec,d <70

0 < p < 50

Industrial
Refrigeration
including Food
Processing andCold Storage

10 ≤ M ≤10,00015 ≤ d ≤ 30

0.5 ≤ k ≤ 3

7 ≤ x ≤ 25

0 < ηrec,d <90

50 < p <100

Chillers

10 ≤ M≤2000

15 ≤ d ≤ 30

0.2 ≤ k ≤ 1

2 ≤ x ≤ 15

0 < ηrec,d <95

80 < p <100

Residential andCommercial A/C,
including Heat
Pumps

0.5 ≤ M≤100

10 ≤ d ≤ 20

0.2 ≤ k ≤ 1

1 ≤ x ≤ 10

0 < ηrec,d <80

0 < p < 80

Mobile A/C

0.5 ≤ M ≤1.5

9 ≤ d ≤ 16

0.2 ≤ k ≤0.5

10 ≤ x ≤ 205

0 < ηrec,d <50

0 < p < 50

Based on information contained in UNEP RTOC Reports (UNEP-RTOC, 1999; UNEP-RTOC, 2003)

2, 3

Lower value for developed countries and higher value for developing countries

4

The lower threshold (0%) highlights that there is no recovery in some countries.

5

Schwarz and Harnisch (2003) estimates leakage rates of 5.3% to 10.6%; these rates apply only to second generation mobile air
conditioners installed in European models in 1996 and beyond.

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Chapter 7: Emissions of Fluorinated Substitutes for Ozone Depleting Substances

7.5.2.3

C HOICE OF ACTIVITY DATA

Tier 1a/b method
Inventory compilers in countries that manufacture refrigerant chemicals should estimate Annual Sales of New
Refrigerant using information provided by chemical manufacturers. Data on imported chemical should becollected from customs statistics, importers, or distributors.
Total Charge of New Equipment can be estimated using either:•

Information from equipment manufacturers/importers on the total charge of the equipment they manufacture
or import; or•Information from chemical manufacturers/importers on their sales to equipment manufacturers anddistributors.

Ensure this information only includes sales as refrigerant, not feedstock or other uses. The difference between
the total sales of new refrigerant and that charged in new equipment is assumed to be used for servicing. Where
information on new equipment charges is unavailable, it can be assumed that, in a mature market, two thirds ofrefrigerant is used for servicing while one third is used for new equipment. However, the adoption of suchassumptions must be accompanied by some justification about the state of the market and how well theseassumptions are likely to apply.

Tier 2 methods
Both Tier 2a and Tier 2b methods require the development of a matrix for each sub-application based on
equipment type on the one hand and refrigerant type on the other hand. In order to derive the number of pieces ofequipment for all the vintages, historic net consumption activity data is also required. The annual update of thematrix makes it possible to recalculate all emission types as detailed in Equations 7.10 to 7.14 each year.
Moreover, the refrigerant choice has to be assessed on a year-by-year basis owing to changing national
regulations (often relating to CFC and HCFC phase-out at different dates) and changing technological choices.
In some countries HFC refrigerant regulations have started to enter into force.
Where country-specific data cannot be analysed to this level, globally or regionally validated activity data can beobtained from reputable databases based on refrigerant charges and lifetimes provided in Table 7.9, for all subapplications, to facilitate Tier 2 methods. A number of refinements are usually necessary dependent on theparticular circumstances of the country. Assistance for this can be obtained from application experts.

Other shared issues
Whether collecting country-specific activity data in support of a Tier 1 or a Tier 2 method, inventory compilers
must take care in dealing with refrigerant blends. Table 7.8 illustrates the complexity already existing and blends
are only expected to increase in popularity as manufacturers of equipment seek for further improvements inperformance, particularly in respect of energy efficiency. Where blends contain both HFCs and othercomponents, only the reportable elements need to be considered. This is even the case for other components withsignificant GWPs (e.g., CFCs and HCFCs).
Inventory compilers also need to consider how to monitor the movement of trade in equipment and products
containing HFCs and/or PFCs. The Box 7.3 below sets out some of the measures required to estimate imports
and exports adequately.

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BOX 7.3
ACCOUNTING FOR IMPORTS AND EXPORTS OF REFRIGERANT AND EQUIPMENT

In estimating Annual Sales of New Refrigerant, Total Charge of New Equipment, and Original
Total Charge of Retiring Equipment, as required for Tier 2b, inventory compilers should accountfor imports and exports of both chemicals and equipment. This will ensure that they capture theactual domestic consumption of chemicals and equipment. For example, if a country imports asignificant share of the HFC-134a that it uses, the imported quantity should be counted as part ofAnnual Sales. Alternatively, if a country charges and then exports a significant number ofhousehold refrigerators, the total charge of the exported refrigerators should be subtracted from thetotal charge of the household refrigerators manufactured in the country to obtain Total Charge of
New Equipment.
GENERAL APPROACH: In general, the quantity Annual Sales should be estimated using thefollowing formula:
Annual Sales= Domestically Manufactured Chemical+ Imported Bulk Chemical– Exported Bulk Chemical+ Chemical Contained in Factory-Charged Imported Equipment– Chemical Contained in Factory-Charged Exported Equipment

All quantities should come from the year for which emissions are being estimated. Similarly, thequantity of Total Charge of New Equipment should be estimated using the following:
Total Charge of New Equipment= Chemical to Charge Domestically Manufactured Equipment thatis not Factory-Charged+ Chemical to Charge Domestically Manufactured Equipment that isFactory-Charged+ Chemical to Charge Imported Equipment that is not Factory-Charged+ Chemical Contained in Factory-Charged Imported Equipment– Chemical Contained in Factory-Charged Exported Equipment

Original Total Charge of Retiring Equipment should be estimated the same way as Total Chargeof New Equipment, except all quantities should come from the year of manufacture or import of theretiring equipment.
SIMPLIFIED APPROACH: In estimating Annual Sales and Total Charge of New Equipment, it ispossible to ignore the quantities of chemical imported or exported inside of factory-charged
equipment if these quantities cancel out in the calculation of emissions. However, inventory
compilers that use the simplified calculation should ensure that: (1) they treat imports and exports
of factory-charged equipment consistently in estimating both Annual Sales and Total Charge New
of Equipment; and (2) they continue to account for imports and exports of factory-charged
equipment in estimating Original Total Charge of Retiring Equipment. As new equipment will
eventually become retiring equipment, countries may wish to track imports and exports of factorycharged equipment even if this information is not strictly necessary to develop the current year’s
estimate.

The simplified formula for Annual Sales is:
Annual Sales= Domestically Manufactured Chemicals+ Imported Bulk Chemicals– Exported Bulk Chemicals

The simplified formula for Total Charge of New Equipment is:
Total Charge of New Equipment= Chemicals to Charge Domestically Manufactured Equipment+ Chemical to Charge Imported Equipment that is not Factory-Charged
The full formula, accounting for imports and exports of pre-charged equipment, must be used to
calculate Original Total Charge of Retiring Equipment.

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Chapter 7: Emissions of Fluorinated Substitutes for Ozone Depleting Substances

7.5.2.4

A PPLYING TIER 2 METHODS – THE EXAMPLE OF MOBILE
AIR CONDITIONING (MAC)

The Box 7.4 below sets out the step-by-step approach required to assess the emissions from the mobile air
conditioning sub-application of a hypothetical country’s inventory. The method adopted is primarily a Tier 2aapproach, although there are also elements which would be equally applicable to Tier 2b. This example,
therefore, highlights the reality that pure approaches and methods are rare in practice. There will often be a mixof emission-factor approach and mass–balance approach as well as a mix of country-specific data and globally or
regionally derived data. As pointed out in Section 7.1.2.1, one method, approach or dataset will often be used tocross-check another. This example also demonstrates that a detailed implementation of the Tier 2a method
requires a significant amount information gathering about a sub-application. Once established, it is lessburdensome to implement the approach in subsequent years. Also note that assumptions made are for example
only; inventory compilers should collect country-specific information rather than using the assumptions shown.

BOX 7.4
EXAMPLE OF THE APPLICATION OF A TIER 2a CALCULATION FOR MOBILE AIR CONDITIONING

Introduction

National inventories and other studies to date show that emissions of HFC-134a from mobile air
conditioners (MACs) contribute significantly to the Refrigeration and Air Conditioning (RAC)
Application emissions and the ODS Substitutes Category emissions. For many countries,
emissions from MACs will comprise 50 percent or more of the RAC emissions and possibly morethan 50 percent of the total ODS Substitutes Category emissions. This is due to many factors,
including:z

The phaseout of ODSs to HFCs in MACs occurred earlier and more quickly than other SubApplications, such as residential (stationary) air conditioning and commercial refrigeration(supermarkets), which still rely substantially on ODSs.

z

MACs are subject to extremes in terms of physical shock and vibration and hence emissions
tend to be large.

z

The lifetime of MACs tends to be shorter than many other RAC Sub-Applications, so that
end-of-life emissions are seen earlier and equipment stocks relying on ODSs are replaced
sooner with HFCs.

z

Due to the small charge of refrigerant involved, recovery from MACs is often seen as
uneconomical and hence is not often practiced during service and disposal.

In addition, data on vehicle purchases and registrations in a country are often known to a higher
degree of quality or are easily obtained. Hence, it is good practice to estimate emissions from this
Sub-Application. The following text describes how the general equations for the RAC Application
can be applied to the MAC Sub-Application.
Data Gathering and Assumptions

An accurate estimate of MAC emissions may be obtained by collecting some data at the SubApplication level and applying a few basic assumptions to simplify the data and calculations
required, as follows:
Refrigerant Type. It will be important to separate each data point by refrigerant, so that emissionsof each refrigerant are calculated separately. For MACs, this may be simplified by the fact that all
MACs produced since the mid- to late-1990s use HFC-134a as the refrigerant. However, CFC-12
was used in the past and still exists in some operating systems. Furthermore, for the future otherrefrigerants such as HFC-152a and R-744 (carbon dioxide) are being considered.
Refrigerant Sold in Containers (RMt). For MACs, refrigerant generally comes in three basic typesof containers – ‘bulk containers’ sent to vehicle manufacturers to fill new MACs, ‘small cans’containing about 300-500 grams of refrigerant generally used by individuals servicing their own
equipment, and ‘cylinders’ containing about 10-15 kilograms of refrigerant used by shops that
service many vehicles. If one assumes no losses from bulk containers (see below), then in order tocalculate Econtainers, one needs to know the total refrigerant sold in small cans (RMsc) and cylinders(RMcy). It will be important to distinguish the refrigerant sold into different Sub-Applications (e.g.,
HFC-134a is also used in the chillers and domestic refrigeration Sub-Applications) so that only the2006 IPCC Guidelines for National Greenhouse Gas Inventories

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refrigerant sold for MACs is used in the calculations. This data may be obtained from small canpackagers and refrigerant producers/distributors.
Container Heels (c). For this example, we assume the heels from service containers are notrecovered (e.g., the cylinders are discarded, not reused) and are csc = 20% for the small can and ccy= 2% for the cylinder. Because bulk refrigerant containers generally go back to the refrigerant
producer and are refilled, we can assume there are no heels that would be emitted and hence cbulk =0%.
MACs Produced Each Year (Nt). If the number of MACs placed in service each year is not known,an estimate can be made by multiplying the number of cars placed in service each year by an
estimate of the percentage that were sold with MACs. These data may be available fromautomobile manufacturers, MAC producers/suppliers, or government agencies involved intransportation, infrastructure and highway safety. If more than one type of refrigerant is used, it isimportant to separate each Nt into the different refrigerants, e.g., N1994 = N1994,CFC-12 + N1994,HFC-134a.
Nominal Charge of Each MAC (mt). This factor would likely vary by the type of vehicle; forinstance small passenger cars will likely have lower refrigerant charges than buses or larger cars,
especially those with multiple evaporators. Likewise, this could vary over time, for instancedecreasing as manufacturers make smaller systems for the same vehicle size, or increasing aslarger cars and more multiple-evaporator units enter the market. For this example, we assume aconstant over time at an average m = 0.7 kg, which is typical of small to medium-sized passenger
cars.
Refrigerant Charged into New Equipment (Mt). This is easily calculated as Mt = Nt • mt = 0.7 • Nt.
Assembly Losses (k). This is used to calculate the Charge Emissions, also referred to as ‘First-Fill
Emissions.’ The loss rate is often small, on the order of k = 0.5% or smaller. For simplicity, we
assume k = 0 in this example.
Lifetime (d). The presumed lifetime of a MAC. This variable can be based on national data andcan be different for different types of MACs (passenger cars, buses, etc.) For this example, we
assume the lifetime of all MACs is d = 12 years.
Bank in Existing Equipment (B). The bank will be the amount of refrigerant in MACs put into
service, minus the amount of refrigerant in MACs disposed, plus the amount of refrigerant used toservice MACs, minus the amount that has leaked. In actuality, a given MAC will probably leakover several years before being serviced. Rather than attempting to account for this, for thisexample we apply Equation 7.13 which assumes all MACs are serviced each year such that theestimated charge of each MAC is the same as the nominal charge. The annual emission rate isaveraged to account for this assumption. This will only produce small errors unless the year-toyear sales of MACs fluctuate widely. Hence the bank in any given year is the sum of the
Refrigerant Charged into New Equipment each year from the current year back to the assumed
average lifetime of the equipment. Thus,d

Bt = ∑ M t − i +1
i =1

For example, using d = 12 years, the bank in 2006 would be B2006 = M2006 + M2005 + M2004 + … +M1997 + M1996 + M1995.
Annual Emission Rate (x). This factor accounts for both leaks from equipment as well as any
emissions during service. Both of these items can be different for different types of MACs and canalso vary by when the MAC was produced (i.e., older MACs may leak more than newer MACs).
If annual servicing does not occur, the amount emitted at any servicing event needs to be averageover the number of years between servicing event to obtain the annual rate. This amount is likely
to vary considerably depending on national conditions and what type(s) of service is (are)performed. Whether recovery of the given charge before service is performed must be considered,and may be deduced in part by examining the amount of refrigerant sold in small cans versus
cylinders. For this example, we assume that 15% of the nominal charge is leaked each year and
11% on average is emitted during servicing. Hence, x = 26%.
Residual Charge in MACs Disposed (p). Assuming that the MAC is serviced the year before it isdisposed, and that the annual emission rate is estimated, this is easily calculated as p = 1 – x. In
our example, p = 1 – 26% = 0.74
Recovery Efficiency (nrec). If no regulations or incentives exist to require recovery of refrigerant

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Chapter 7: Emissions of Fluorinated Substitutes for Ozone Depleting Substancesfrom MACs disposed, then likely very little will occur. So, for this example, we assume that nrec
= 0.
Calculation of Different Types of Emissions

Now that these data have been gathered and assumptions have been made, calculating theemissions may be performed. An example for year t = 2006 follows:
Container Emissions (Equation 7.11).
Econtainers , 2006 = RM cy , 2006 • ccy + RM sc, 2006 • csc = 0.02 • RM cy , 2006 + 0.2 • RM sc, 2006

Charging Emissions (Equation 7.11).
Ech arg e, 2006 = M 2006 • k = 0

Lifetime (Operating and Servicing) Emissions (Equation 7.13).
dEoperation , 2006 = B2006 • x = 0.26 • B2006 = 0.26 • ∑ M t − i +1
i =1

= 0.26 • ( M 2006 + M 2005 + M 2004 + L + M 1997 + M 1996 + M 1995 )= 0.26 • m • ( N 2006 + N 2005 + N 2004 + L + N1997 + N1996 + N1995 )= 0.26 • 0.7 • ( N 2006 + N 2005 + N 2004 + L + N1997 + N1996 + N1995 )= 0.182 • ( N 2006 + N 2005 + N 2004 + L + N1997 + N1996 + N1995 )End-of-Life Emissions (Equation 7.14).

Eend − of − life, 2006 = M 2006 − d • p • (1 − nrec ) = M 2006 −12 • 0.74 • (1 − 0)
= 0.74 • M 1994 = 0.74 • 0.7 • N1994 = 0.518 • N1994
Calculation of Total Emissions

Total MAC Emissions (Equation 7.8).
Etotal , 2006 = Econtainers , 2006 + Ech arg e , 2006 + Elifetime , 2006 + E servicing , 2006 + Eend −of −life , 2006
= 0.02 • RM cy , 2006 + 0.2 • RM sc , 2006 + 0+ 0.182 • ( N 2006 + N 2005 + N 2004 + L + N1997 + N1996 + N1995 ) + 0.518 • N1994= 0.02 • RM cy , 2006 + 0.2 • RM sc , 2006
+ 0.182 • ( N 2006 + N 2005 + N 2004 + L + N1997 + N1996 + N1995 ) + 0.518 • N1994

The only unknowns are:•

RMsc – refrigerant (in kilograms) sold in small cans to service MACs, which may be obtained
from small can packagers;•

RMcy – refrigerant (in kilograms) sold in cylinders to service MACs, which may be obtained
from refrigerant producers/distributors; and,•

Nt – the number of MACs put in service each year, which may be available from automobile
manufacturers, MAC producers/suppliers, or government agencies involved in transportation,
infrastructure and highway safety.

If the emissions from refrigerant containers and from end-of-life are not included, for example if it
is believed that service cylinders are completely evacuated and minimal MACs reach their end-oflife in the given year, this equation becomes simply an activity (the number of MACs) multipliedby an emission factor (annual emission rate times average charge size, in this case 0.182 kg per
MAC). This calculation yields the total emissions in kilograms of refrigerant. Keeping eachrefrigerant separate and multiplying each sum by the refrigerant’s GWP will yield kilograms of
CO2 equivalent emissions. Dividing by 1 billion (109) will yield emissions in teragrams of CO2
equivalent (TgCO2eq).

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7.5.2.5

C OMPLETENESS

Completeness for the Tier 1a/b method can be achieved if data for new refrigerants, and refrigerants inequipment that is retired in the current year, are available. For the Tier 2a and 2b methods, completeness depends
on a thorough accounting of the existing equipment banks, and this may involve tracking large amounts of data.

7.5.2.6

D EVELOPING A CONSISTENT TIME SERIESEmissions from refrigeration and air conditioning should be calculated using the same method and data sources
for every year in the time series. Where consistent data are unavailable for the more rigorous method for any
years in the time series, these gaps should be recalculated according to the guidance provided in Volume 1,
Chapter 5.

7.5.3

Uncertainty assessment

Table 7.8, Estimates for Charge, Lifetime and Emission Factors for Refrigeration and Air-Conditioning Systems,presents emission factor ranges that highlight the uncertainty associated with this sector. Generally,
disaggregated methods (Tier 2) have less uncertainty than Tier 1 methods because of the heterogeneous nature of
the sub-applications. Those Tier 2 methods that rely on emission factors (Tier 2a) have more uncertainty thanmass balance methods that use chemical sales data (Tier 2b). This occurs largely because of the small unit size ofmost equipment and the potential for the multiplication of a small unit error. Inventory compilers should seek
industrial advice on uncertainties, using the approaches to obtaining expert judgements outlined in Volume 1,
Chapter 3.

7.5.4
7.5.4.1

Quality Assurance/Quality Control (QA/QC),
Reporting and Documentation
Q UALITY A SSURANCE /Q UALITY C ONTROLIn order to conduct a quality control for Tier 2 method, it is possible, but not necessary in order to satisfy therequirements of good practice, to compare the annual national HFC refrigerant market as declared by thechemical manufacturers or the refrigerant distributors with the annual HFC refrigerant needs as derived by the
Tier 2 method. Refrigerant will be needed for either charging new equipment or servicing existing equipment.
What is needed (i.e., purchased) to charge equipment includes the refrigerant that is actually charged in theequipment plus any associated emissions (either during the charging process or from containers that are used forcharging but not completely emptied before they are discarded). What is needed for service is refrigerant toreplace that which is lost from existing equipment due to leaks and lost during servicing, as well as refrigerant
from containers that are not completely emptied before they are discarded. The following formula leads to thisverification.
EQUATION 7.15
VERIFICATION OF SUPPLY AND DEMAND ASSESSMENTS
6

(

)

6

(

)

6

(

)

RN t = ∑ S prod _ t , j • mt , j + ∑ M t , j • k j + ∑ Bt , j • x j + RM t • c
j =1

j =1

j =1

Where:
RNt = HFC refrigerant needs in year t, kg
j = counter from 1 to 6 (or the number of sub-applications chosen for the Tier 2 method)
Sprod_t,j = national production of equipment using HFC refrigerant for sub-application domain j in year t,
number of equipmentmt,j = initial average charge of HFC in sub-application j type of equipment, kg
Mt,j = amount of HFC charged into the equipment of sub-application j at manufacturing in year t, kg
kj = emission factor of assembly losses of the HFC charged into new equipment of sub-application j,
fraction

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Chapter 7: Emissions of Fluorinated Substitutes for Ozone Depleting SubstancesBt,j = amount of HFC banked in existing systems of sub-application j in year t (per sub-application), kg
xj = annual emission rate (i.e., emission factor) of HFC banked in sub-application j during operation,accounting for average annual leakage and average annual emissions during servicing, fraction
RMt = HFC market for new equipment and servicing of all refrigeration sub-applications in year t, kg
c = emission factor of HFC container management of the refrigerant market, fraction
The first term corresponds to the refrigerant charge of new refrigerating and air conditioning system produced in
the country at the current year t including exports.
The second term corresponds to the refrigerant emitted during the initial charging of new refrigeration and air
conditioning systems produced in the country at the current year t including exports.
The third term corresponds to the refrigerant charge used for servicing, assuming the refrigerant emitted fromleaks and during servicing is topped-off each year.
The final term represents the refrigerant emitted from containers across the entire refrigeration and air
conditioning market in the given year t.
Refrigerant recovered and recharged directly to the same owner’s equipment are not seen as a need; however,refrigerant recovered and sent for reclamation is accounted for in the declared market.
The annual refrigerant market as declared by chemical manufacturers or refrigerant distributors RD is calculated
by Equation 7.16
EQUATION 7.16
CALCULATION OF ANNUAL REFRIGERANT MARKET
RDt = R prod _ t − Rexp _ t + Rimp _ t + Rrecl _ t − Rdest _ t

Where:
Rprod_t = quantities of HFC refrigerant production in the country, kg
Rexp_t = quantities of HFC refrigerant produced in the country and exported, kg
Rimp_t = quantities of imported HFC refrigerant, kg
Rrecl_t = quantities of HFC refrigerant recovered and reprocessed for sale as reclaimed HFC refrigerant
less quantities going to reclaimers that have not yet been sold, kg
Rdest_t = quantities of HFC refrigerant destroyed, kg
All quantities are calculated for the current year t.
Comparing RNt that is the HFC refrigerant needs as derived from the inventory method and RDt the HFC
refrigerant market as declared by refrigerant manufacturers and distributors gives a clear quality control of theinventory method, and also of the global emissions. RNt and RDt are calculated for each HFC type.
Inventory compilers are encouraged to use higher tier QA/QC for key categories as identified in Volume 1,
Chapter 4.
It is difficult to provide adequate QA/QC procedures for the Tier 1 a/b method without carrying out a Tier 2analysis to verify the choice of composite emission factor. Since this defeats the object of the Tier 1 approach,the most appropriate strategy is to seek external evaluation of the derivation of the composite emission factor
where it is country-specific. An alternative will be to compare Tier 1 outputs with the predictions of regional or
global databases.

7.5.4.2

R EPORTING AND D OCUMENTATIONThe supporting information necessary to ensure transparency in reported emissions estimates is shown in Table
7.10, Good Practice Documentation for Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Systems.

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TABLE 7.10
GOOD PRACTICE DOCUMENTATION FOR REFRIGERATION AND AIR-CONDITIONING SYSTEMS
Data Source

Data to be Reported

Tier 1a/b

Tier 2a and 2b

Regulation for phase-outof CFCs and HCFCs

Schedule of phase out for charging of brand new
equipment and for servicing

X

X

Government Statistics or
Disposal Companies

Number of equipment disposed of for each type of
application

X

X

Refrigerant
Manufacturers andDistributors

All virgin refrigerants sold for charging new
equipment and for servicing in the different sectors

X

X

Manufacturer Associationor Marketing Studies

Equipment produced on a national level using HFC
refrigerants (for the six sub-applications)

X

X

Import/Export
Companies, Governement
Statistics, Manufacturer
Association or Marketing
StudiesNumber of equipment using HFCs (imported andexported)
X

X

Government orRefrigerant Distributors

HFC refrigerants recovered for re-processing or for
destruction

X

X

Manufacturer Association

Average equipment lifetime

NA

X

Manufacturer Association

Initial charge of systems

X

X

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Chapter 7: Emissions of Fluorinated Substitutes for Ozone Depleting Substances

7.6

FIRE PROTECTION

7.6.1

Chemicals covered in this application area

There are two general types of fire protection (fire suppression) equipment that use HFCs and/or PFCs as partial
replacements for halons: portable (streaming) equipment, and fixed (flooding) equipment. HFCs, PFCs and more
recently a fluoroketone are mainly used as substitutes for halons, typically halon 1301, in flooding equipment.
PFCs played an early role in halon 1301 replacement but current use is limited to replenishment of previously
installed systems. HFCs in portable (streaming) equipment, typically replacing halon 1211, are available but
have achieved very limited market acceptance due primarily to their high cost. PFC use in new portable
extinguishers is currently limited to a small proportion (few percent) in an HCFC blend.
While actual emissions from the fire protection sub-sector are expected to be quite small, the use is normally
non-emissive in provision of stand-by fire protection and is growing. This results in an accumulating bank offuture potential emissions.
HFCs and PFCs that might still be involved in fire protection are shown in Table 7.1.

7.6.2

Methodological issues

7.6.2.1

C HOICE OF METHOD

As with the refrigeration and air conditioning application, the fire protection application offers the possibility ofusing both Approach A (emission-factor approach) and Approach B (mass–balance approach). The latter isjustified by the fact that a considerable proportion of net consumption is likely to be targeted at equipment
servicing rather than new equipment. However, the fire protection application differs from the refrigeration andair conditioning application in that the sub-applications are less numerous and more homogeneous. This meansthat the Tier 1a or Tier 1b method may be sufficient to provide appropriate emissions reporting, although, to bestrictly correct, the inclusion of end-of-life considerations would normally warrant a Tier 2 approach.
However, as with both foam and refrigeration/air conditioning, it is necessary in the fire protection application todeal with the development and tracking of banks. This means that an historical time series of country-specific or
globally or regionally derived activity data is required dating back to the introduction of any new HFC or PFC.
Since HFCs and PFCs in fire protection are emitted over a period longer than one year, countries need torepresent emissions from equipment charged during previous years. Choosing an annual production-based
emission factor to reflect a multi-year emission process can lead to considerable error and is not considered goodpractice.
Equation 7.17 indicates how the approach should be modified to consider the time dependence of the emissions
and to consider what activity data could most likely be made available.
EQUATION 7.17
TIME DEPENDENCE OF EMISSIONS FROM FIRE PROTECTION EQUIPMENT
Emissions t = Bank t • EF + RRLt

andt

Bank t = ∑ (Production i + Importsi − Exportsi − Destructioni − Emissionsi −1 ) − RRLt
i =t 0

Where:
Emissionst = emissions of agent from fire protection equipment in year t, tonnes
Bankt = bank of agent in fire protection equipment in year t, tonnes
EF = fraction of agent in equipment emitted each year (excluding emissions from retired equipment orotherwise removed from service), dimensionless
RRLt = Recovery Release or Loss: emissions of agent during recovery, recycling or disposal at the timeof removal from use of existing fire protection equipment in year t, tonnes

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Productiont = amount of newly supplied agent (i.e., excluding recycled agent) in fire protection
equipment produced in year t, tonnes
Importst = amount of agent in fire protection equipment imported in year t, tonnes
Exportst = amount of agent in fire protection equipment exported in year t, tonnes
Destructiont = amount of agent from retired fire protection equipment that is collected and destroyed,
tonnest = year for which emissions are being estimated (e.g., 2006, 2007, etc.)
t0 = first year of chemical production and/or use
i = counter from first year of chemical production and/or use t0 to current year t

It is good practice to apply Equation 7.17 to each individual greenhouse gas used in fire protection equipment.
The calculation of the emissions must be performed for each year and applied to the next year’s calculation.
With this background in mind, the decision tree for the fire protection application as set out in Figure 7.9
becomes very straight-forward.
As with Tier 1 methods adopted in both foams and refrigeration and air conditioning, it is possible to create a
simple spreadsheet that accounts for the development of banks and the subsequent emissions from them. The
following spreadsheet extract provides an example:
Figure 7.8

Example of spreadsheet calculation for Tier 1 method

Tier 1 FIRE PROTECTION
Austria - HFC-227ea

SummaryCountry: Austria
Agent: HFC-227ea
Year: 2005

HFC-227ea

Emission: 27.1 tonnes
In Bank: 678.4 tonnes

Current Year

2005
30

Use in current year - 2005 (tonnes)

Data
Used
Here

Production of HFC-227ea

120

Imports in current Year

80

Exports in current year
Total new agent to domestic market

24176Year of Introduction of HFC-227ea
Growth Rate in New Equipment Sales

1998
3.0%

25
20
15
10
5

Tier 1 Defaults
Assumed Equipment Lifetime (years)

15

Emission Factor from installed base4%

% of HFC-227ea destroyed at End-of-Life

0%

0
1996

1998

2000

2002

2004

2006

2008

2010

2012

2014

1996
0
0
0

1997
0
0
0

1998
12
2
8

1999
25
5
17

2000
39
8
26

2001
53
11
36

2002
69
14
46

2003
85
17
57

2004
102
20
68

2005
120
24
80

2006
0
0
0

Total New Agent in Domestic Equipment

0

0

18

37

57

78

101

124

150

176

0

Agent in Retired Equipment
Destruction of agent in retired equipment
Release of agent from retired equipment

0
0
0

0
0
0

0
0
0

0
0
0

0
0
0

0
0
0

0
0
0

0
0
0

0
0
0

0
0
0

0
0
0

Bank
Emission

0
0

0
0

18
1

54
2

109
4

183
7

276
11

389
16

523
21

678
27

651
#N/A

Estimated data for earlier years
Production
Agent in Exports
Agent in Imports

It is intended that such a spreadsheet facilitates the calculation for the Fire Protection application, supported,
where necessary, by activity data from an appropriate globally or regionally derived dataset23.

23

As noted in Box 7.1, inclusion in the IPCC Emission Factor Database (EFDB) will indicate general adherence to due
process, but it is good practice for countries to ensure that all data taken from the EFDB are appropriate for their national
circumstances.

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Chapter 7: Emissions of Fluorinated Substitutes for Ozone Depleting Substances

Figure 7.9

Decision tree for actual emissions from the fire protection application
Start

Is theremanufacture of fire protection
agents in-country?

Yes

Collect current and historic
activity data including
import/export data.

Yes

Collect current and historic
activity data including
export data.

No

Is theremanufacture of fire
protection equipment incountry?
No

Combine with any current andhistoric data on imports of fire
protection equipment.

Are
reliable country-specificemission factor data
available?

Collect data anddevelop country-specificemission factors.

Yes

Box 3: Tier 1a withcountry-specific EFs

No

Is this a key
category1?

Use Tier 1a method withcountry-specific emission factors.

Yes

Yes

No

Are emission
factor data available (e.g.,
from regional or global
databases)?

No

Use Tier 1a method withemission factors derived fromregional or global databases, etc.
Box 2: Tier 1a with
Efs derived fromregional or global
databases, etc.

Calculate emissions
using Tier 1b method.
Box 1: Tier 1bNote:
1. See Volume 1 Chapter 4, Methodological Choice and Identification of Key Categories (noting Section 4.1.2 on limited resources), for
discussion of key categories and use of decision trees.

7.6.2.2

C HOICE OF EMISSION FACTORS

Experience gained during the phase-out of halons substances has taught some valuable lessons regarding use andemission patterns, and it is reasonable to expect that these lessons are relevant for greenhouse gases used forsimilar purposes. Fire protection equipment is designed to release its initial charge during an actual fire incident.
A recent study shows that annual emissions from installed flooding systems are in the range of 2 ± 1 percent of
the installed base (Verdonik and Robin, 2004). For halon 1211 portable extinguishers, the Halons Technical2006 IPCC Guidelines for National Greenhouse Gas Inventories

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Options Committee (2003) estimated that the emission rate for 2000 is approximately twice that of fixed systems.
Applying that factor provides a range of 2 to 6 percent (that is, 4% ±2%) of the in-use quantities.
Given the nature of this application, there are opportunities to recover the gas at the end of life of the equipment(or whenever removed from service). The recovered gas may be destroyed or recycled. Therefore, the default
assumption of zero end-of-life recovery may overestimate end-of-life emissions. The inventory compiler should
establish contacts with relevant industries to collect information on recovery that may occur due to legislation,
Industry Codes of Practice or other measures. It is good practice to document this information and report any
assumptions.
For those countries without a national Industry Code of Practice, it is good practice to assume that the agent will
not be recovered at the end of the system life and is emitted. Typical lifetimes for flooding systems are 15 to 20
years. In specialised applications, such as aircraft and military systems, systems can remain in use for 25 to 35
years or longer (UNEP-HTOC, 1994).

7.6.2.3

C HOICE OF ACTIVITY DATA

For countries that produce the fire protection agent, it is good practice to assign all of the production of thatagent to that country unless known to have been 1) exported in bulk or 2) destroyed. For countries that do not
produce the agent but produce and fill fire protection systems, all of the bulk agent imported into the country is
considered to remain in the country unless known to have been 1) re-exported in bulk or 2) destroyed. Countries
that do not produce the agent or systems would use the activity data developed by the producer countries todevelop their inventory or, baring evidence of export into the country, estimate the emissions from fire
protection as below the significance of their overall greenhouse gas emissions, i.e., essentially zero. This default
methodology places the major responsibility on the countries that produce the agent or use them for the
manufacture of systems. In order for producer countries to use this methodology, activity data would need to be
developed on production, bulk imports and exports, and destruction.
In summary, activity data comes from countries that are producers of fire protection agents or systems, with the
exception of destruction. In order for the producer country to decrease the amount credited toward that country
from production of agent, bulk exports must be demonstrated. These bulk exports while reducing the producer
countries installed base would also serve as activity data for importing countries to determine their installed base.

7.6.2.4

C OMPLETENESS

Inventory compilers should ensure that all greenhouse gases used in the fire protection industry are included in
the estimate. It is also necessary to apply Equation 7.17 beginning in the first year that greenhouse gas fire
protection agents were employed in the country.

7.6.2.5

D EVELOPING A CONSISTENT TIME SERIESIn some countries, historical activity data for the greenhouse gases charged into new equipment or used toservice existing equipment may be difficult to determine because of the recent introduction of these substances.
If inventory compilers use preliminary emission factors for these years based on historical data for halons, andthen switch they should follow good practice in ensuring time series consistency, as described in Volume 1,
Chapter 5.

7.6.3

Uncertainty assessment

On the global level, a high degree of certainty could be expected because assessments will be based on
production and provides for a complete material balance. At any time, Aggregate Global Production will always
equal Aggregate Global Emissions plus the Aggregate Total Contained in Equipment. There is more uncertainty
in the country-specific data. A small error is built into the method as importing and exporting of filled systems is
not included in the method. However, based on experience with halon and their greenhouse gas substitutes,
accurate data on filled system import/export is likely not obtainable at a reasonable level of effort.
Verdonik (2004) compared reports on halon consumption against the manufacturers’ reports of global halon
production from CEFIC24, reported developing country production and reported CEIT25 production. The results
24

CEFIC – European Chemical Industry Association

25

CEIT – Countries with Economies in Transition

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Chapter 7: Emissions of Fluorinated Substitutes for Ozone Depleting Substanceswere a standard deviation of 16 percent for developed countries, 15 percent for developing countries and 13
percent globally. It is anticipated that the uncertainty in HFC/PFC emission estimates would be comparable orhigher than the uncertainty seen in halon consumption estimates.

7.6.4
7.6.4.1

Quality Assurance/Quality control (QA/QC),
Reporting and Documentation
Q UALITY A SSURANCE /Q UALITY C ONTROL

It is good practice to conduct quality control checks as outlined in Volume 1, Chapter 6, and an expert review ofthe emissions estimates. This may involve direct reference to global or regional databases for parallel
assessments which allow benchmarking. Additional quality control checks as outlined in Volume 1, Chapter 6,
and quality assurance procedures would be applicable, if higher tier methods were used to determine emissions
from this application. However, if this is not the case, the basic QA/QC approaches outlined in Volume 1,
Chapter 6 can be adopted.
In addition to the guidance in Volume 1, specific procedures of relevance to this application are outlined in thereferences at the end of the chapter.

7.6.4.2

R EPORTING AND D OCUMENTATION

Access to data such as chemical sales may depend on the ability of inventories to preserve confidentiality. Thebalance between preservation of confidentiality and transparency of the data is an important issue, especially in a
low use application such as fire protection. These ODS substitutes are manufactured by a few producers, inquantities very much lower than ODS substitutes used in other applications. Careful aggregation of GWPweighted data may be a means to resolve this issue.

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7.7

OTHER APPLICATIONS

7.7.1

Chemicals covered in this application area

HFCs and PFCs represent a large range of gases whose properties make them attractive for a variety of nicheapplications not covered separately in this Chapter. These include electronics testing, heat transfer, dielectric
fluid, medical applications and potentially many new applications not yet developed. There are also somehistorical uses of PFCs, as well as emerging use of HFCs, in these applications. These applications have leakage
rates ranging from 100 percent emissive in year of application to around 1 percent per annum. However, thischapter is specifically focused on those uses of HFCs and PFCs which directly replace Ozone Depleting
Substances and these are much more limited in scope.
There is a need to be sure that double-counting does not occur with the electronics category covered in Chapter 6of this Volume, including electronics testing, heat transfer and dielectric applications. Other double-counting ispossible in the coverage of solvents or where HFCs and/or PFCs are contained as solvents in industrial aerosols.
This is a prime example where the delineation between what is acting as an ODS Substitute and what is not canbe very fine. To avoid confusion, this chapter has taken the approach that only those technology transitions
which occur directly from ODSs to HFC and/or PFC technologies should be considered.
Bearing in mind that ODS phase-out (both CFCs and HCFCs) is moving towards completion in developed
countries, the number of new applications emerging is expected to be very limited. However, in theory at least,
new applications could emerge right up until the final global phase-out of ODSs in 2040.

7.7.2

Methodological issues

7.7.2.1

C HOICE OF METHOD

The choice of good practice methods depends on national circumstances (see decision tree in Figure 7.10,
Decision Tree for Actual Emissions from the Other Applications).
When choosing a method for this application area, there is a need to consider whether to treat each Other
Application as a separate application or whether to address them as a group. The former will lead to a series ofTier 2 methods, while the latter will lead to a single Tier 1 approach.
The end-users for these niche applications will be extremely diverse. As a result, investigating each of theseapplications separately may not be feasible. Instead, it is suggested that these other miscellaneous applications be
divided into highly emissive applications similar to solvents and aerosols, and less emissive contained
applications similar to closed-cell foam and refrigerators. The breakdown of annual gas consumption going toeither category should be determined by a survey of end-use applications.
The split of usage will be:•

Emissive = X% of total consumption (where X would normally be expected to be typically >50%)•

Contained = (100 – X)% of total consumption

The consequence of this approach is that, depending on the number of sub-applications in each class, it could bepossible to follow an exclusively Tier 1 approach or alternatively adopt a Tier 2 method. Since the primarydifferentiator is the rate of emission, and it is not known whether sub-applications will require servicing or not, it
is recommended that exclusively Approach A (emission-factor approach) be used (i.e., Tier 1a and/or Tier 2a).
Modelling of these two classes of sub-application is considered in turn.

EMISSIVE APPLICATIONS
It is good practice to use a Tier 1a method, similar to the methods described for aerosols and solvents. During
use of fluids in these applications, 100 percent of the chemical is emitted on average six months after sale. In
other words emissions in year t can be calculated according to the equation for solvents and aerosols as follows:

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EQUATION 7.18
ASSESSMENT OF PROMPT EMISSION SOURCES FROM OTHER APPLICATIONSEmissions t = S t • EF + S t −1 • (1 − EF )Where:
Emissionst = emissions in year t, tonnes
St = quantity of HFC and PFC sold in year t, tonnes
St–1 = quantity of HFC and PFC sold in year t–1, tonnes
EF = emission factor (= fraction of chemical emitted during the first year after manufacture), fraction
The emission factor (EF) represents that fraction of chemical emitted during the first year after manufacture. By
definition, emissions over two years must equal 100 percent. This equation should be applied to each chemical
individually.

CONTAINED APPLICATIONS
Certain applications have much lower loss rates. Where appropriate data are available, a separate emissions
model will be required to adjust for this lower leakage rate. Where no data exist, globally or regionally derived
activity data and emission factors can be used. Thus, the equation for annual emissions is as follows:
EQUATION 7.19
ASSESSMENT OF EMISSIONS FROM OTHER CONTAINED APPLICATIONSEmissions = Product Manufacturing Emissions + Product Life Emissions+ Product Disposal Emissions
Where:
Product Manufacturing Emissions = Annual Sales ● Manufacturing Emission Factors
Product Life Emissions = Bank ● Leakage Rate
Product Disposal Emissions = Annual Disposal ● Disposal Emission Factors

7.7.2.2

C HOICE OF EMISSION FACTORSEmission factors for those sub-applications with prompt emissions will follow similar selection criteria to thosefor solvents (Section 7.2.2.2) and aerosols (Section 7.3.2.2).
Emission factors for contained sub-applications will depend on the particular nature of that sub-application. If a
series of sub-applications is fairly homogeneous in nature it may still be possible to work with a composite
emission factor and adopt a Tier 1a method. However, where there is considerable variation in the nature ofcontained sub-applications, it will be more appropriate to research these specifically, if appropriate emission
factors are not available. In either case, the need for separate emission factors will lead to the adoption of a Tier
2a method.

7.7.2.3

C HOICE OF ACTIVITY DATA

Activity data will always be difficult to establish for small niche applications and inventory compilers will be
reliant on the co-operation of chemical suppliers to identify qualifying sub-applications. However, once
identified, they should be relatively easy to quantify at a country level because they are likely to be fairly
specialist in nature.
As indicated in Figure 7.10, it is good practice to conduct an end-use survey periodically.

7.7.2.4

C OMPLETENESS

As noted in Section 7.7.2.3, the key challenge will be to keep updated with new Other Application as they
emerge. Regular cross-reference with ODS Substitution Reviews (e.g., UNEP Technical & Economic
Assessment Panel Reports) will assist in this respect.

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7.7.2.5

D EVELOPING A CONSISTENT TIME SERIESEmissions from Other Application should be calculated using the same method and data sources for every year
in the time series. Where consistent data are unavailable for any year in the time series, gaps should berecalculated according to the guidance provided in Volume 1, Chapter 5.

7.7.3

Uncertainty assessment

There may be a wide range of other applications and therefore it is not possible to give default uncertainties forthese sources. However, procedures should be put in place to assess levels of uncertainty in accordance with thepractices outlined in Volume 1 Chapter 3.

7.7.4
7.7.4.1

Quality assurance/quality control (QA/QC),
reporting and documentation
Q UALITY ASSURANCE / QUALITY CONTROL

It is good practice to conduct quality control checks as outlined in Volume 1, Chapter 6, and an expert review ofthe emissions estimates. This may involve direct reference to global or regional databases for parallel
assessments which allow benchmarking. Additional quality control checks as outlined in Volume 1, Chapter 6,
and quality assurance procedures may be applicable, if higher tier methods are used to determine emissions fromthese sub-applications. However, if this is not the case, the basic QA/QC approaches outlined in Volume 1,
Chapter 6 can be adopted.

7.7.4.2

R EPORTING AND DOCUMENTATIONThe balance between preservation of confidentiality and transparency of the data is an important issue, especiallyin low-use sub-applications. Specialist ODS substitutes are often manufactured by only a few producers, inquantities very much lower than ODS substitutes used in other applications. Careful aggregation of GWPweighted data may be a means to resolve this issue.

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Chapter 7: Emissions of Fluorinated Substitutes for Ozone Depleting Substances

Figure 7.10

Decision tree for actual emissions from the other applications
Start

Are the typesof ‘other’ uses in the country
known already?

No

Perform an end-use survey of otherapplications using HFCs and PFCs.

Yes

Calculate emissions from contained
applications, using sub-application
emission factors, then sum emissions
from contained applications and thosefrom emissive applications.

Yes
For each year, obtain data fromchemical manufacturers andimporters for sales of each HFC and
PFC into other applications.

Separate activity data into emissive
and contained applications.
Calculate emissions from emissive
applications using the appropriate
equation (Tier 1a).

Areemission factors
available for contained uses
at the sub-applicationlevel?

Box 2: Tier 2a for contained
applications, Tier 1a for emissive
applications

No

Is this a key
category1?

No

Yes

Calculate emissions from contained
applications, using application levelemission factors, then sum emissions
from contained applications and thosefrom emissive applications.
Box 1: Tier 1aCollect data on emission
factors for contained uses
at the sub-application level.
Note:
1. See Volume 1 Chapter 4, Methodological Choice and Identification of Key Categories (noting Section 4.1.2 on limited resources), for
discussion of key categories and use of decision trees.

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