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GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH LETTERS, VOL. 35, L12810, doi:10.1029/2008GL034542, 2008

NF₃, the greenhouse gas missing from Kyoto

Michael J. Prather

Earth System Science Department, University of California, Irvine, California, USA

Juno Hsu

Earth System Science Department, University of California, Irvine, California, USA

Abstract

Nitrogen trifluoride (NF₃) can be called the missing greenhouse gas: It is a synthetic chemical produced in industrial quantities; it is not included in the Kyoto basket of greenhouse gases or in national reporting under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC); and there are no observations documenting its atmospheric abundance. Current publications report a long lifetime of 740 yr and a global warming potential (GWP), which in the Kyoto basket is second only to SF₆. We re-examine the atmospheric chemistry of NF₃ and calculate a shorter lifetime of 550 yr, but still far beyond any societal time frames. With 2008 production equivalent to 67 million metric tons of CO₂, NF₃ has a potential greenhouse impact larger than that of the industrialized nations' emissions of PFCs or SF₆, or even that of the world's largest coal-fired power plants. If released, annual production would increase the lower atmospheric abundance by 0.4 ppt, and it is urgent to document NF₃ emissions through atmospheric observations.

Received 5 May 2008; accepted 27 May 2008; published 26 June 2008.

Keywords: greenhouse gases; nitrogen trifluoride; Kyoto Protocol; climate change.

Index Terms: 0317 Atmospheric Composition and Structure: Chemical kinetic and photochemical properties; 3305 Atmospheric Processes: Climate change and variability (1616, 1635, 3309, 4215, 4513); 6620 Public Issues: Science policy (0485); 1610 Global Change: Atmosphere (0315, 0325).

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Citation: Prather, M. J., and J. Hsu (2008), NF₃, the greenhouse gas missing from Kyoto, Geophys. Res. Lett., 35, L12810, doi:10.1029/2008GL034542.

Copyright 2008 by the American Geophysical Union.