Section 01 Alternatives to HCFCs in the Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Sector 14 the installation of HCFCs has been in place since 2004 and a total ban on the use of virgin HCFCs began in 2010. The following HCFCs are the most commonly used in the different sectors: HCFCs have traditionally been the global solution in sectors that are now rapidly growing in many developing countries, such as stationary air conditioning and large commercial and industrial refrigeration. In the later applications, HCFCs have been competing with ammonia, another well-proven “mature” technology. Other applications are new, since HCFC has been used as a replacement to facilitate the phase-out of CFC. Traditionally the retail food sector mostly uses R-12 (CFC) and R-502 (containing CFC) but moved to R-22 as a transitional product before non-ODS alternatives such as R-134a and R-404A/R-507 were accepted. HCFCs are used as a component in a large number of refrigerant blends, often designed to match the behaviour and performance of R-12 and R-502. These are often called service or drop-in blends as they are intended to facilitate an easy replacement of CFCs in existing plants with minimal changes to the system. Technologies to move away from HCFCs are well-known and proven in the industrialised countries and many of the alternatives are already partly introduced in developing countries due to influences from neighbouring markets and international companies. The strongest incentive for the continuous growth of markets for HCFCs is the lower initial price of both the substance and the equipment intended for use with HCFC (although this is often only in a short –time perspective as long-term energy and future retrofit cost will be high). R-22 is also a product that the entire industry is familiar with. Alternatives with less environmental impact are often associated with slightly higher initial cost and a need for technical know-how to be dispersed to a large number of technicians. This creates an uncertainty in the market that can be taken advantage of by competing companies by preserving “old technologies” at minimal cost. For some of the environmentally-preferred solutions, there are also safety barriers to be addressed to make these alternatives viable solutions. A more extensive list of alternatives to HCFCs are listed in Appendix I - List of refrigerants. In Article 2 (i.e. developed country) markets, the transition has been happening over the last 15 years, so the commercial alternatives are well-proven. For example, in Europe a ban on S ector T ype of HCFC Refrigeration (manufacturing and service) Domestic refrigeration L imited use of service drop-in blends (never used in equipment production)(HCFC-141b in appliance insulation foam) Commercial Refrigeration HCFC blends in service, (HCFC-141b in foam) Industrial refrigeration HCFC-22, R-502 (a blend of CFC/HCFC), HCFC blends, (HCFC-141b in foam) Transport refrigeration HCFC-22, R-502, HCFC blends, (HCFC-141b foam) S tationary Air Conditioning R esidential and commercial AC HCFC-22 Chillers HCFC-22, HCFC-123 M obile air conditioning None or minimal (poor compatibility with hoses) Foams HCFC-141b, HCFC-142b, HCFC-22 M edical Aerosols None N on-Medical Aerosols HCFC-22, HCFC-141b, HCFC-142b Fire Protection HCFC-123, HCFC-124, HCFC-22 (blends) S olvents HCFC-141b, HCFC-225ca, HCFC-225cb Different sectors where hcfcs are most commonly used.