EU on track with the HFC phase-down under the F-gas Regulation

According to EEA’s Fluorinated greenhouse gases report 2024, HFCs in 2023 were 5% below the maximum quantity allowed to be placed on the EU market by the F-gas Regulation.

Each year, the European Environment Agency (EEA) provides a summary of the information reported on the production, import, export and destruction of fluorinated greenhouse gases (F-gases) in the European Union since 2007 as required by the EU F-gases Regulation.

F-gases have a range of applications, particularly in the refrigeration, air conditioning and heat pump (RACHP) sector. F-gases contributed to 2 % of total greenhouse gas emissions in the EU-27 in 2022.

 

According to the 2024 Fluorinated greenhouse gases report, the total supply of F-gases to the EU in 2023, measured in CO2 equivalents, was 10 % lower than in 2022.

HFCs contribute about 70% to 2023 EU F-gases supply in CO2 equivalents, compared to 85% in 2015. Therefore, HFC phase-down, resulting in a decrease of HFC supply, is the key driver for the decrease in F-gases supply since 2015.

In 2023, both production and imports of HFCs have decreased, contributing to a combined decrease in supply of -9% compared to 2022.

It should be noted that after a steady decrease from 2016 to 2020, imports of HFCs in RACHP equipment increased by about 50% (in tonnes of gas) between 2020 and 2022. In 2023, there was a decrease of 13% compared to 2022, with imports back at 2021 levels again. The primary factor contributing to the decrease in 2023 as compared to 2022 are overall reduced imports of stationary cooling and heating equipment, as well as heat pumps.

 

HFCs in 2023 were 5% below the maximum quantity allowed to be placed on the EU market by the F-gas Regulation. With regards to international agreements, EU consumption of HFCs was at 43 % of the maximum imposed by the Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol.

 

 

For more information, the complete report is available on FRIDOC or on the EEA website.

 

 

Source

ETC CM report 2024/05: Fluorinated greenhouse gases 2024  https://www.eionet.europa.eu/etcs/etc-cm/products/etc-cm-report-2024-05