Page 22 - Climate Control News Magazine April 2021

Refrigerant Feature
Legal action to stop Biden’s HFC phase down
TWELVE AMERICAN STATES have sued Presi- dent Joe Biden over his first executive order aimed at tackling climate change and phasing down HFCs.
The Republican attorney generals represent- ing these states allege Biden lacked the constitu- tional authority to implement new rules about greenhouse gases.
The Federal lawsuit launched last month by Re- publican Attorney General Eric Schmitt of Mis- souri, said Biden violated the separation of powers clause in the Constitution because Congress, not the president, has the power to regulate.
On his first day in the White House, Biden signed Executive Order 13990 which directed federal agencies to examine the “social cost” of greenhouse gas emissions.
But the 12 states claim assigning such values is the duty of Congress and the economic ramifi- cations of the order will be a disaster.
“If the Executive Order stands, it will inflict hundreds of billions or trillions of dollars of damage to the US economy for decades to come,” the suit reads. “It will destroy jobs, stifle energy production, strangle America’s energy independence, suppress agriculture, deter inno- vation, and impoverish working families. It un- dermines the sovereignty of the States and tears at the fabric of liberty.”
Republican states involved in the suit include Arkansas, Arizona, Indiana, Kansas, Montana, Nebraska, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Ten- nessee and Utah.
The White House and Department of Justice declined to comment.
Biden campaigned on being the most aggres- sive president on climate change, which he called “an existential threat.” His goal is to decarbonize the U.S. power sector by 2035 and reach net zero emissions by 2050.
US president Joe Biden is being sued for taking action against climate change.
Republican led states also sued the Obama ad- ministration to stop the Clean Power Plan which was aimed at reducing fossil fuels. The US Su- preme Court upheld the challenge in 2015 and the program never took effect.
– with USA Today
Technology to capture HFC23 emissions
CHEMOURS HAS LAUNCHED a project to significantly reduce emissions of HFC23 at its Louisville, Kentucky manufacturing site.
HFC23 is a unique HFC that is commercial- ised for critical low-volume applications such as ultra-low temperature refrigerants for vac- cines, medical utilisation, and semiconductor manufacturing.
It is also produced as a byproduct from the manufacture of the ozone-depleting HCFC re- frigerant R22. It has a huge GWP of 14,800.
Chemours’ plans include the design, custom- building and installation of proprietary technol-
ogy to capture at least 99 per cent of HFC23 pro- cess emissions from the site.
Chemours Advanced Performance Materials’ operations vice-president, Tim Byrd, said the site currently captures a majority of HFC23 pro- cess emissions.
The custom manufacturing and installation of the multiple components needed for the pro- prietary system are expected to be completed by the end of 2022.
The Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) claims this latest announcement comes more than five years after a nearly identical com-
mitment the company made to the Obama Ad- ministration in 2015 to “control, and to the ex- tent feasible, eliminate by-product emissions of HFC-23” at their production facilities worldwide.
EIA’s climate campaign lead, Avipsa Mahapatra, said if Chemours is incapable of running this facility responsibly, it must immediately cease operations.
As well as calling for a cessation of activities that lead to the release of HFC23, the EIA has called on Chemours to restore the damage done by taking responsibility for the lifecycle climate impacts of their chemicals from cradle to grave.
INDIA TAKES ACTION
India’s chemical industry has agreed to destroy emissions of its most potent greenhouse gas, HFC23.
The Indian Environment Ministry calculates that the move could save as much as 444 million tonnes of CO2e emissions.
This latest measure requires five Indian companies which manufacture HCFC22 to capture and then incinerate HFC23, to prevent its release into the atmosphere.
HFC23 is a huge contributor to climate change but is currently being used for feedstock.
Inside the Chemours headquarters.
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