General Motors Co. recently announced that it will begin using a groundbreaking refrigerant that will drastically reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the air conditioning units beginning in 2013. GM plans to use the new chemical across its Chevrolet, Buick, GMC and Cadillac brands.
According to GM, the new refrigerant, developed by Honeywell and DuPont, will reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 99.7%, in comparison to the current refrigerant used. This near-elimination of emissions is possible by use of a new chemical in the refrigerant, HFO-1234yf, which remains present for only 11 days in the atmosphere before breaking down. The current industry-standard chemical used now, R-134a, remains in the atmosphere for more than 13 years.
Under the recently-released Environmental Protection Agency/Department of Transportation Light-Duty Vehicle Greenhouse Gas Emission Standards and Corporate Average Fuel Economy Standards Final Rule, GM may be eligible for regulatory credit for greenhouse gas emissions reductions resulting from use of the new refrigerant. GM said that such regulatory credits will help it meet the Final Rule-mandated 40% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions fleet-wide by 2016.