Biden sends Kigali Amendment to U.S. Senate, aims to reduce HFC emissions

U.S. President Joe Biden on Nov. 17 urged Congress to approve an amendment to an international treaty aimed at reducing man-made chemicals that damage the Earth's ozone layer. 

The U.S. White House submitted the 2019 Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol to the Senate on the same day. 124 countries have signed the amendment, a bill to push for cuts in hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), a greenhouse gas that is more harmful than carbon dioxide in causing global warming, under the framework of the Montreal Protocol.

The amendment calls for states to cut HFCs, which are widely used in refrigerants such as refrigerators and air conditioners, by 85 percent by 2036. Although the United States played a central role in drafting the Kigali Amendment, the U.S. Congress did not approve the bill. During former President Trump's presidency, the U.S. government overturned the reduction in HFC use.

HFCs refrigerant products mainly include HFC-32, HFC-125, HFC-134a, blended refrigerants, etc. In the overseas market, U.S. Comu, U.S. Honeywell and France Arkema are the main HFCs manufacturers. In the Chinese market, Juhua, Sanmei Chemical, San Aifu, Sinochem, Dongyue Group, Meilan Chemical, Lucy Chemical, etc. are the main HFCs producers.

HFCs is the third generation refrigerant, which is friendly to the ozone layer and is the mainstream product in the global market at this stage, but its greenhouse effect is high and will be eliminated in the future. In the long term, HFCs will co-exist with other products in the market, but in the long term, in order to control the greenhouse effect and protect the environment, the demand for HFCs will be reduced continuously.