The Cool War

The Cool War refers to the debate about the next-generation refrigerant in car air conditioning worldwide, with an ongoing dispute between the Alliance for CO2 Solutions supporting the uptake of sustainable CO2 Technology in passenger cars, and chemical giants developing new chemical blends.

The Alliance and its supporters – scientists, NGOs and business leaders – urge the car industry to replace high global warming chemical substances with the natural refrigerant carbon dioxide (CO2, R744 / R-744) in car cooling and heating. This, they argue, would lead to 10% less car emissions, and knock out 1% of total greenhouse gas emissions worldwide. If CO2 Technology is applied in other sectors, such as commercial and industrial refrigeration, heat pumps for water heating etc., it may even save up to 3% of the world’s greenhouse gases.

Opponents of the Alliance claim that CO2 Technology is not cost-efficient and safe, hence seeking to postpone the global industry decision to be taken this summer to develop new chemical blends instead.

Background

The Cool War has emanated from the decision of the European Union to phase out the current high global warming refrigerant HFC-134a in car air conditioning from January 2011 onwards. To comply with the legislation, carmakers have to decide today on a new refrigerant, as they typically need 3-4 years to develop and introduce a new car platform including the air conditioning system. (It would take much less time to design merely a new air conditioning system to install in a new version of an existing model.) The current total value of the car air conditioning market is estimated to be $14.5 billion in 2007.

Arguments for CO2

The Alliance for CO2 Solutions and its supporters agree that the refrigerant CO2 is:

* More environmentally friendly: with the lowest Global warming potential (GWP) of all currently used and proposed refrigerants. CO2 does not deplete the ozone layer. Since the carbon dioxide used in car air conditioning is a recycled industrial waste product it becomes environmentally neutral. Overall, using a CO2-based air conditioning system will reduce total car emissions by 10%, thereby sparing the planet 1% of total greenhouse gases.
* More technically ready: CO2 models have been developed and tested in all climates, being now ready for mass production. They are faster to heat and cool a car, and show a superior performance in over 90% of all driving conditions.
* More cost-efficient: As a refrigerant itself, CO2 is cheap and worldwide available. The servicing of CO2 systems will be less costly and less complicated than that for present systems. For the consumer the total cost of ownership is lowest with CO2 as it will significantly cut fuel consumption by the air conditioning device. Carmakers have to make an initial investment estimated at €20 per unit, with no additional costs once CO2 Technology enters into mass production.
* Use as Heat Pumps: At least one CO2 system under development can act as a heat pump, supplying cabin heat and windshield defrosting even before the engine has warmed up.

Arguments against CO2

Opponents in The Cool War claim that CO2 Technology is more expensive than current systems and future chemical blends as it requires the design of completely new high-pressure systems where so-called “drop-in solutions” (the adaptation of current systems to new substances) would be more cost-efficient. Their second key argument is that CO2 is toxic, leading to suffocation in high concentrations.

Both arguments are challenged, however, by the Alliance for CO2 Solutions. According to the group the initial costs of CO2 systems will be around €5 higher than drop-in solutions. Over a car’s life cycle, however, CO2 air conditioning systems will be more cost-efficient than any currently used or proposed new chemical blends. (see Arguments for CO2). Regarding the issue of toxicity, CO2 has been classified as Safety Class A1 (low-toxic, non-flammable refrigerant) by the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) – the highest safety class possible. As the charge of CO2 to the air conditioning systems is very small (200-400 g) there is no realistic danger for the passengers, even in case of accidental release.

Arguments for non-CO2 refrigerants

* Natural: Refrigerants such as the greenpeace-developed 'Greenfreeze', based on purified butane/propane mixtures, are entirely 'natural', and due to increased efficiency over refrigerants such as R134a, allow the use of very small amounts of refrigerant to be used.
* Reduced environmental damage: Use of pure hydrocarbon refrigerants, which are 'backward compatible' with even early Freon (R-12) car air conditioning systems, would allow these systems to be easily converted (without modification), increasing their efficiency, and preventing further release of harmful R-134a and R-12 to the atmosphere.

Arguments against non-CO2 refrigerants

Butane and propane are very flammable petroleum products; they are used as fuels for gas barbecue grills, disposable lighters, etc. (Propane has even been used as a fuel for alternative energy vehicles, often built by converting stock gasoline-engine vehicles.) Like gasoline, to which it chemically is closely related, propane has a tendency to explode if ignited in an enclosed container, and an internal combustion engine designed to run on gasoline can be converted to run on propane without major modification.

The use of highly flammable hydrocarbon gases such as butane and propane as automotive refrigerants raises serious safety concerns. The EPA, in evaluating motor vehicle air conditioning substitutes for CFC-12 (Freon, or R-12) under its SNAP program, has classified as "Unacceptable Substitutes" other "Flammable blend of hydrocarbons" by reason of "insufficient data to demonstrate safety." The EPA defines "Unacceptable" in this context as "illegal for use as a CFC-12 substitute in motor vehicle air conditioners". All of the refrigerants which EPA approved for motor vehicle use in place of CFC-12 (as of September 28, 2006) contain no more than 4% total flammable hydrocarbons (butane, isobutane, and/or isopentane). Therefore, it appears unlikely, for safety reasons, that EPA will approve 'Greenfreeze' or similar hydrocarbon-based refrigerants for automotive use.

Latest & Next Steps

In September 2007, the German Association of the Automotive Industry (VDA) officially announced its decision to use CO2 as the refrigerant in next-generation air conditioning. Other carmakers from Europe and the rest of the world may follow the German lead.

A working group at ACEA, the European carmakers’ association, was to be drafting a common position on the issue to be adopted across the whole industry by end-2007.

However on April 9th 2009, German public television channel ARD aired a report claiming that VDA members would be using loopholes in the law to avoid complying with the EU directive.

Positions

* Deutsche Umwelthilfe - Press Release 06 September, 2007
* Greenpeace Germany - News Release 06 September, 2007
* Alliance for CO2 Solutions - Press Release 06 September, 2007
* Alliance for CO2 Solutions - Press Release 30 July, 2007
* Alliance for CO2 Solutions - Press Release 13 June, 2007
* Deutsche Umwelthilfe - Press Release 13 July, 2007
* German Federal Environment Agency (Umweltbundesamt) - Press Release 8 May, 2007

Media Coverage

* Spiegel-Online.de (06/09/2007)
* ENDS Europe Report - August edition
* International Herald Tribune (07/07/31)
* European Voice (07/07/12)
* Euractiv (07/06/26)
* Forbes (07/06/18)

From http://en.wikipedia.org/