Refrigerant
GREEN-MAC-LCCP: Is it the best tool for evaluating A/C GHGs or not?
By goHTSN Staff
Apr 9, 2008, 12:26

Petaluma, CA — April 9, 2008 — On this R744.com site, links to two sides are provided for a debate that has popped up about the GREEN-MAC-LCCP method of evaluating lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions from mobile air conditioners. It's a fairly complex subject (for the non-Doctorate readers, anyway) so it takes a bit of studying to comprehend what's actually disputed. In any case, the bottom line is "will the world use CO2 as a mobile refrigerant or something else?" Surely the winners of this refrigerant race stand to gain billion$, maybe trillion$, in future sales.

On April 1, R744.com published an interview with Dr. Armin Hafner, member of the original GREEN-MAC-LCCP working group. He is an R744 expert at SINTEF and suggests there are challenges connected with the development of this tool. He believes the tool needs to "integrate more real-life testing data, realistic emission values, and an enhanced usability of data output to offer a transparent life cycle emissions analysis model for car air conditioning."

Today, R.744.com published a link to a rebuttal to Dr. Hafner's argument. It was prepared by Dr. Stephen O. Andersen, U.S. EPA, Dr. Stella Papasavva, General Motors and Mr. Ward Atkinson, Chair SAE Interior Climate Control Committee. They reject Dr. Hafner's contentions and offer their reasons subject by subject.

Again, the explanations are somewhat complex, especially to service shop owners and technicians. Look for a more enlightening article on this subject in the upcoming issue of Cool Profit$ Magazine. Several parties are submitting information that should make the whole subject easier to digest. And after all, it's calling out what the future will hold for the auto/mobile air conditioning industry.