Carrier Aircon developing safe CFC substitutes

Mumbai: Twenty-five years ago this month, three scientists published an article in Nature magazine alerting the world to the discovery of a hole in the Earth's stratospheric ozone layer.

This discovery triggered action by governments, industry, and environmentalists around the world and contributed to the Montreal Protocol agreeing to phase-out the production and consumption of chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) and hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs) used as refrigerants in air conditioning and refrigeration systems.

Airconditioning giant Carrier Corp was among the early CFC users in  2004 to adopt a phase-out of the chemical CFC in the air conditioning and refrigeration industry -  two years ahead of US. requirements and 16 years before mandates in developing countries.

Carrier Corp, a global major in heating, air-conditioning and refrigeration solutions, is a unit of United Technologies Corp.

''Life on Earth only began once the ozone layer was in place to shield harmful radiation from the sun,'' explained John Mandyck, Carrier's vice president for sustainability and environmental 0strategies. ''The discovery of ozone depletion and the rapid response by governments and industry around the world are widely credited with averting a global environmental and health crisis.''

The Montreal Protocol was signed in 1987 as a global environmental treaty to eliminate ozone depleting substances. The Protocol phased-out CFC production for developed countries in 1996 and developing countries starting in January of 2010. The Protocol also requires all HCFCs to be phased-out in new systems in 2020 for developed countries and 2030 for developing countries.