The F-gas Regulation encourages industry to use natural refrigerants

Last year, 2023, the European Union issued a new F-Gas Regulation, which came into effect on 11 March 2024. The regulation is part of the EU’s wider efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and promote sustainable development by encouraging industry to use more environmentally friendly technologies and materials. The regulation updates and tightens the previous significant regulation concerning F-gases in 2014.

The EU’s decision to update the F-gas Regulation reflects a global trend towards more environmentally friendly and sustainable practices in industrial and commercial environments. The update to the F-gas Regulation is a key element of the EU’s Green Deal package, the purpose of which is to achieve carbon neutrality in the European Union by 2050.

Key parts of the new F-gas Regulation

Emission reductions: The regulation aims to achieve significant emission reductions. According to the Finnish Ministry of the Environment, measures taken in the F-gas Regulation and regulations concerning substances that deplete the ozone layer will reduce “carbon dioxide equivalent emissions by approximately 500 megatons by 2050. The amount is equivalent to roughly ten times the total greenhouse gas emissions produced by Finland in 2022.”

Restrictions on use: The regulation significantly restricts the placing of devices and products that contain fluorinated greenhouse gases with a high global warming potential on the market. Restrictions on the placing of new products and devices on the market come into force across a number of years. The quota for F-gases imported into the EU will be reduced gradually. A full ban will eventually come into force in 2050.

Recycling and reuse: The regulation includes provisions that promote recycling and reuse of old F-gases in line with safety regulations. Restrictions to reduce the amounts of virgin (previously unused) refrigerants with significant climate impacts used in device maintenance and servicing will be coming into force in the near future.

Licensing and monitoring: Increased licensing and emission monitoring requirements on the sale of fluorinated gases.

HFC quotas and availability

The phasing out of HFC refrigerants is managed through quotas on virgin refrigerants placed on the market. The quota on refrigerants placed on the market will be reduced gradually. The quota will be approximately 12 per cent of the 2015 value in 2027, approximately 5 per cent in 2030, and only about 3 per cent in 2040. Virgin HFC refrigerants will be completely unavailable by 2050.

The use of F-gases in new heat pumps placed on the market will be restricted in the following ways:

Heat pumps with a rated capacity under 12 kW

  • starting in 2027, the GWP of refrigerants must be 150 or less
  • starting in 2032, the use of F-gases will be prohibited entirely

Heat pumps with a rated capacity of 12–50 kW

  • starting in 2027, the GWP of refrigerants must be 150 or less

Heat pumps with a rated capacity over 50 kW

  • starting in 2030, the GWP of refrigerants must be 150 or less

 

The prohibition on maintenance restricts the use of virgin refrigerants

The regulation also places restrictions on the maintenance or servicing of devices using HFCs according to the GWP of the refrigerant. The regulation restricts the use of virgin refrigerants in the maintenance or servicing of devices. In 2026, a prohibition on the maintenance or servicing of heat pumps that use a refrigerant with a GWP of over 2,500 will come into force. In practice, the prohibition on maintenance or servicing means that maintenance operations will use reclaimed or recycled refrigerant in place of virgin refrigerant, and only until 2032. Gebwell Ltd.’s heat pumps use only refrigerants with a GWP of less than 2,500: R407C, R134A, R410A and R513A.

Expanded certificates

The certificates required by installers and maintainers who handle refrigerants are expanding to cover all fluorinated refrigerants, as well as natural refrigerants. The certificates will also expire, and certified individuals will need to attend refresher training or an equivalent every seven years. Individuals who are already certified will need to attend refresher training no later than 2029. Further details of certification and training requirements will be released within two years.

The F-gas Regulation in brief:

  • The regulation does NOT ban the sale or import of any refrigerant.
  • The placing of HFCs on the market will be restricted through the gradual reduction of quotas and eventual removal from the market in 2050.
  • The regulation sets application- and device-specific restrictions on new devices in the form of GWP limits.
  • The regulation prohibits refrigerants used in maintenance or servicing.
  • The regulation stipulates that refrigerants may only be handled by certified persons. (Source: Kylmäextra 1/2024 Uusi F-kaasuasetus on astunut voimaan)

Natural refrigerants to replace fluorinated refrigerants in heat pumps

Recently designed heat pumps have typically utilised hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) such as R-407C, R-410A and R-413A. All of these compounds are harmless to the ozone layer, i.e., they have an ozone depletion potential (ODP) of 0. However, they also have a relatively high global warming potential (GWP).

For example, R410A, which is perhaps currently the most common refrigerant used in heat pumps, has a GWP of 2,088. In practice, this value means that R410A refrigerant released into the atmosphere has a 2,088 times greater impact on global warming than the same amount of carbon dioxide (CO2) over a period of 100 years.

The upcoming REACH Regulation may include further restrictions

With the introduction of the F-gas Regulation, only a handful of low-GWP refrigerants remain available. The REACH Regulation, which will come into force in the next few years, may further reduce this number by restricting PFASs, which means companies that want to play it safe will have to choose from natural refrigerants such as ammonia, hydrocarbons (propane and butane) and carbon dioxide.

Gebwell G-Eco heat pumps with natural refrigerant

At Gebwell Ltd., we chose to run our new G-Eco line of heat pumps on the natural R290 refrigerant, also known as propane. R290 has a GWP of only 3, which makes it a significantly more eco-friendly choice than HFC refrigerants.

We chose R290 for our new line of heat pumps because of its excellent properties, which make it a perfect fit for heat pumps. R290 allows for high output temperatures.

Our current heat pumps, Aries, T, Gemini and Taurus, will continue to be available in our selection and will remain in production.

Sources:

F-kaasuasetus https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX%3A32024R0573

Asetus otsonikerrosta heikentävistä aineista https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/en/TXT/HTML/?uri=OJ:L_202400590

Green Deal https://www.consilium.europa.eu/en/policies/green-deal/