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Dual benefits
ozone protocol: protecting Ozone layer and Climate
Press release; 5 March 2007
The Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency
The 1987 Montreal Protocol - restricting
the use of ozone-depleting substances - has helped to both reduce global
warming and protect the ozone layer. Without this protocol, the amount of heat
trapped due to ozone-depleting substances would be double that of today. The
benefits to the climate, achieved by the Montreal Protocol alone, at present
greatly exceed the initial target of the Kyoto Protocol. This is shown in
research led by the Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency, which will be
published this Monday in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
(USA). The effects of the Montreal Protocol on the climate will decrease in
the future, while emission reductions after 2012 under the Kyoto Protocol will
potentially have a much larger effect on the climate.
Antarctic ozone hole
Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) and other
ozone depleting substances are now globally recognized as the main cause of
the observed depletion of the ozone layer. In 1974, Molina and Rowland
provided an ‘early warning’, when they first recognized the potential of
CFCs to deplete stratospheric ozone. Concern was further heightened in 1985,
by the discovery of the ozone hole over Antarctica. The 1987, the Montreal
Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer formally recognized the
significant threat of ozone-depleting substances to the ozone layer and
provided a mechanism to reduce and phase-out global production and use of
these compounds. According to research the ozone layer is currently starting
to recover.
Greenhouse gases and the Kyoto Protocol
Ozone depleting substances also
contribute to the radiative forcing of climate change. Their current
contribution is about 20% of that of carbon dioxide (CO2). The Kyoto Protocol
of 1997 is a global treaty to reduce the emission of CO2, the leading
greenhouse gas, and five other gases. These gases do not deplete the ozone
layer. However, the substances that do, are not included in the Climate
Convention and its
Kyoto Protocol.
Dual benefits
According to research led by the
Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency, the Montreal Protocol has helped
to both reduce global warming, and to protect the ozone layer. Without the
reductions achieved under this Protocol, the amount of heat trapped due to
ozone-depleting substances would be about double that of today. This has meant
a gain of about 10 years of CO2 reductions. The climate benefits which are
already achieved by the Montreal Protocol alone, are far larger than the
reduction target set for the first commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol.
However, these climate benefits due to the Montreal Protocol, will reduce
further and further, as ozone depleting substances are being phased-out.
Future benefits
New measures under the Montreal
Protocol, can result in additional, significant climate benefits, compared to
the Kyoto Protocol reduction target. These new measures consist of removing
CFCs present in existing applications (refrigerators, foams), and of limiting
the production of not fully halogenated fluorocarbons (HCFCs), and/or of
implementing the use of alternative gases with lower global warming
potentials. Also, additional emission reductions after 2012 are being
negotiated in the framework of the Kyoto Protocol. Such reductions have a
potentially much larger effect on climate than those of the Montreal Protocol.
Climate
Benefit of Montreal Protocol is 5 to 6 Times Larger than 1st Commitment Period
of Kyoto Protocol
WILMINGTON,
Del., March 5, 2007 - DuPont today reinforced the findings of a group of leading
scientists that show the Montreal Protocol treaty has had a significant impact
on protecting the Earth’s climate, as well as its ozone layer.
The article, "The Importance of the Montreal Protocol in Protecting
Climate," was published today in The Proceedings of the National Academy of
Science. Its authors are Guus J.M. Velders, Stephen O. Andersen, John S. Daniel,
David W. Fahey and Mack McFarland, DuPont chief atmospheric scientist.
Dr.
Mack McFarland, DuPont chief atmospheric scientist, is a leading industry expert
on climate change. A former scientist with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration, he is one of the authors of an article stating that the
international Montreal Protocol treaty benefitted the Earth's climate, as well
as its protective ozone layer.
The Montreal
Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer was signed in September
1987. It restricts the use of ozone-depleting substances, including
chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) and hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs), which also are
greenhouse gases. After two decades, the treaty has led to substantial
reductions in the emissions of ozone depleting substances. Research indicates
that the ozone layer is now recovering.
“The Montreal Protocol has had a significant impact in reducing the amount of
greenhouse gases that otherwise would have been emitted to the atmosphere,”
said Dr. McFarland. “The swift adoption of CFC alternatives in a seamless
industry transition during the 1990s, combined with not-in-kind technologies and
conservation measures, has contributed to protection of both the ozone layer and
the global climate. More than anything, the example set by the Montreal Protocol
clearly shows that international cooperation among all stakeholders, with
flexible regulations that stimulate innovation, can lead to rapid progress
toward protection of the global environment.”
DuPont advocates an accelerated phaseout of HCFCs, actions to minimize emissions
of refrigerants and adoption of low global warming potential (GWP) alternatives,
where possible. Last year, the company announced the identification of a low GWP
refrigerant for auto air conditioning applications and is currently working on
leveraging this low GWP technology to other refrigerant applications.
DuPont led the industry in the phaseout of CFCs and transition to
environmentally acceptable alternatives. At the time, DuPont estimated that more
than $135 billion of existing equipment in the United States alone depended on
CFCs, including more than 150 million automobiles, 69 million home refrigerators
and more than 70,000 building air conditioning systems. In January 1991, DuPont
was the first company to launch a family of refrigerant alternatives that met
performance, safety and environmental criteria and could be used in existing as
well as new equipment, thus minimizing the transition cost to thousands of
businesses and consumers around the world.
DuPont has reduced greenhouse gas
emissions more than 70 percent since 1991, with $3 billion in avoided energy
costs. Those energy savings are based on the use of improved process controls;
optimization of energy generation and distribution at its facilities; new
technologies with lower energy consumption, and; one of the biggest factors –
improved yields from DuPont’s manufacturing processes. DuPont also is reducing
the use of fossil fuels by employing alternative energy sources such as landfill
gas.
DuPont – one of the first companies to publicly establish environmental goals
16 years ago – has broadened its sustainability commitments beyond internal
footprint reduction to include market-driven targets for both revenue and
research and development investment, like low GWP refrigerants. The goals are
tied directly to business growth, specifically to the development of safer and
environmentally improved new products for key global markets, including products
for it customers, like low GWP refrigerants that reduce greenhouse gas
emissions.
DuPont is a science-based products and services company. Founded in 1802, DuPont
puts science to work by creating sustainable solutions essential to a better,
safer, healthier life for people everywhere. Operating in more than 70
countries, DuPont offers a wide range of innovative products and services for
markets including agriculture and food; building and construction;
communications; and transportation. |
