February 05, 2004

By: Margareta Cohl
Website: http://www.1st-in-kitchens.com

New Aham Research May Deflate Impact Of Refrigerator-Freezers On Global Warming

AHAM’s Appliance Research Consortium, in conjunction with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, is conducting research to evaluate the potential for degradation of foam blowing agents in landfills. Preliminary data shows that a substantial level of shredded and landfilled foam blowing agent is not emitted into the atmosphere and therefore, green house gasses attributed to refrigerator-freezers is far less than previously thought. The results of this work, coupled with previous research on the emissions of fluorocarbon blowing agents from refrigerator-freezer foam insulation to the atmosphere, will provide valuable information in evaluating the impact of these chemicals on the ozone layer and their contribution to global warming.

Currently, all models used to assess the environmental impact assume 100% of the blowing agent is released to the atmosphere. However, this research is showing that a substantial amount of the blowing agent used in appliance foams may never be released to the atmosphere. Based on these results and further analyses of decommissioning practices in the U.S., AHAM will work with EPA to adjust the assumptions used in global warming models.

The investigation, being conducted by Denmark Technical University in Copenhagen, will use soil collected from landfill soil covers and waste from landfills in conjunction with various blowing agents including CFC-11, HCFC-141b, HFC-134a, and HFC-245fa. The final report from this project will be published early next year and presented at the Earth Technologies Forum in Washington, DC.

This work is supported by ARC, the Alliance for the Polyurethanes Industry and the U.S. EPA. Based on previous work performed by DTU, it is believed that under conditions found in many landfills, much of the blowing agent may be broken down by enzymes and bacteria in the soil and that very little may ever be released to the atmosphere.

In addition to EPA and API, the following appliance manufacturers and suppliers are supporting this research: ATOFINA Chemicals, BASF Corp, Bayer Corp., DOW, Electrolux, Goldschmidt Chemical Corp., GE Appliances, Honeywell, Huntsman Polyurethanes, Maytag, Sub-Zero Freezer Company, W.C. Wood Company and Whirlpool Corporation.

About The Author:

Margareta Cohl is a successful author and regular contributor to http://www.1st-in-kitchens.com.  Everything for your kitchen to make it look great and make cooking a whole lot easier.