Production and Sales
of Fluorocarbons
Production, Sales, and Atmospheric Release of Fluorocarbons through 2007
Production
Since 1976, the chemical industry has voluntarily reported the production and sales of fluorocarbons through a survey compiled by independent auditors. The main purpose of the survey was to provide the scientific community with data estimating the atmospheric release of fluorocarbons. Data from reporting companies (see list following this introduction and point 1 in the accompanying Notes) are available through 2004 for CFCs 11, 12, 113, 114 and 115 and through 2007 for HCFCs 22, 124, 141b and 142b and HFCs 134a, 125 and 143a.
The total production of all CFCs reported to AFEAS in 2004 was less than 2% of that in the peak year, 1988, and had fallen to the level of the late 1940s and reporting of the annual CFC data stopped in 2004. Production of HCFCs and HFCs that is not reported to AFEAS, principally in India and China, is estimated now to be about 310,000 tonnes/year and growing at a rate of 15%/year1.
Consequently, the production of HCFCs and HFCs reported to AFEAS has now shrunk to about half of the global total and will fall further. This means that the data no longer have scientific value as indicators of global production (and hence as a source of estimates of global emissions) and their collection will now cease.
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Note: "Production" (as defined in the Montreal Protocol) does not include feedstock uses.
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As shown in the graph, the fluorocarbon alternatives initially grew rapidly after their introduction to replace CFCs but now have varied growth rates, with most levelling off as they become more mature products. Production of HCFCs reported to AFEAS has fallen significantly since 1996. The increase in total HFC production has been modest compared to the decline in CFCs and HCFCs.
Geographical Coverage
The companies surveyed include subsidiaries and joint ventures that have or had CFC, HCFC or HFC production in the following countries: Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, European Union, Japan, Mexico, United States and Venezuela (see list following this introduction and point 1 in the accompanying Notes). Production of CFCs by the responding companies has continued to diminish in both absolute and relative terms to the point where, in 2004, CFC data reported to AFEAS amounted to only 16% of the global total estimated from the database maintained by UNEP (the United Nations Environment Programme). Consequently the collection of CFC data from the AFEAS companies ceased in 2004.
In the past, geographical coverage of HCFCs and HFCs in the AFEAS survey has been much greater than for CFCs. In 2004, the last year for which there are UNEP data for individual compounds, AFEAS data accounted for 52% of all non-feedstock HCFC production, and were thought to represent between 85 and 90% of global HFC production. The following graph illustrates the coverage of AFEAS data relative to the production and consumption reported by UNEP2 for CFCs 11 and 12 and HCFCs 22, 141b and 142b. Values greater than 100% occurred when the UNEP data (which are gathered from national submissions, unaudited) failed to reach the total reported to the AFEAS auditors.
Since 2004, the 15%/year growth in the rate of production of HCFCs in countries that do not report to AFEAS means that this trend has continued almost linearly (so that the production represented by the AFEAS data is about 20 to 30% of the global total).
Furthermore, HFCs are now being made in significant quantities by manufacturers in China that do not report to AFEAS (production capacity there is estimated to be 75,000 tonnes/year for HFC-134a alone).
Reduction in Ozone Depletion Impact
Under the Montreal Protocol, CFC production in the developed world after January 1996 was only permitted in order to supply the basic domestic needs of less-developed countries plus a very small allowance for "essential uses" (mostly for laboratory and pharmaceutical purposes). As illustrated in the following plot, the production of CFCs and HCFCs by AFEAS reporting companies, weighted according to the ozone depletion potential (ODP) of each compound, has been reduced by 99% from the peak year, 1988.
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NOTES:
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Reduction in Global Warming Impact
Similarly, when reported production is weighted by the global warming potential (GWP) for each compound, the total has declined by about 90% from 1988, the peak year.
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NOTES:
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Overview of the Fluorocarbon Data
Annual production data for the five CFCs (up to 2004) and production and sales data for the seven other fluorocarbons (to 2007) are presented in the summary tables. Sales are divided into uses categorised as having emissions in the short, medium and long terms, to the best knowledge of the producers. Some degree of geographical breakdown is also provided but the AFEAS survey does not distinguish between Article 5 (developing) countries and non-Article 5 (developed) countries.
Estimates of atmospheric releases of the individual HCFCs and HFCs are provided up to 2007 (with the warning that these are not global data). The emission patterns and release delays applied to HCFCs and HFCs were derived from those developed earlier for CFCs and HCFC-22. However, there have been considerable changes in use practices in the wake of the Montreal Protocol and emission functions are subject to continual review. Revised emission functions, described in McCulloch et al. (2001, 2003 and 2006), were used in calculating the emissions.
The full set of production, sales and emissions data can be downloaded from the AFEAS web site at http://www.afeas.org/data.php. This overview and the graphics are available at http://www.afeas.org/overview.php.
Notes
Footnotes
- Based on information in: Will R., Global Fluorspar Supply and Demand Trends, SRI Consulting, Industrial Minerals FO7 Conference, Frankfurt, 5-7 Nov 2007.
- Source: Task Force on Emissions Discrepancies Report, UNEP Technology and Economic Assessment Panel, October 2006.
Bibliography
Further detail of the data collection and emission estimation procedures and associated uncertainties, and of the geographical distribution of emissions has been published in the papers listed below.
Companies Participating in 2007 Survey
Asahi Glass Co., Ltd. (Japan)Asahi Glass Chemicals America, Inc. (U.S.A.)Arkema S.A.
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Honeywell (U.S.A.)
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