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AGU: Geophysical Research Letters

 

Keywords

  • atmosphere
  • composition
  • hydrofluorocarbons

Index Terms

  • Atmospheric Composition and Structure: Constituent sources and sinks
  • Atmospheric Composition and Structure: Troposphere: composition and chemistry

Abstract

GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH LETTERS, VOL. 37, L02808, 5 PP., 2010
doi:10.1029/2009GL041195

Recent increases in global HFC-23 emissions

S. A. Montzka

Global Monitoring Division, ESRL, NOAA, Boulder, Colorado, USA

L. Kuijpers

Eindhoven Centre for Sustainability, Technical University Eindhoven, Eindhoven, Netherlands

M. O. Battle

Department of Physics and Astronomy, Bowdoin College, Brunswick, Maine, USA

M. Aydin

Earth Systems Science, University of California, Irvine, California, USA

K. R. Verhulst

Earth Systems Science, University of California, Irvine, California, USA

E. S. Saltzman

Earth Systems Science, University of California, Irvine, California, USA

D. W. Fahey

Global Monitoring Division, ESRL, NOAA, Boulder, Colorado, USA

CIRES, University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado, USA

Firn-air and ambient air measurements of CHF3 (HFC-23) from three excursions to Antarctica between 2001 and 2009 are used to construct a consistent Southern Hemisphere (SH) atmospheric history. The results show atmospheric mixing ratios of HFC-23 continuing to increase through 2008. Mean global emissions derived from this data for 2006–2008 are 13.5 ± 2 Gg/yr (200 ± 30 × 1012 gCO2-equivalent/yr, or MtCO2-eq./yr), ∼50% higher than the 8.7 ± 1 Gg/yr (130 ± 15 MtCO2-eq./yr) derived for the 1990s. HFC-23 emissions arise primarily from over-fluorination of chloroform during HCFC-22 production. The recent global emission increases are attributed to rapidly increasing HCFC-22 production in developing countries since reported HFC-23 emissions from developed countries decreased over this period. The emissions inferred here for developing countries during 2006–2008 averaged 11 ± 2 Gg/yr HFC-23 (160 ± 30 MtCO2-eq./yr) and are larger than the ∼6 Gg/yr of HFC-23 destroyed in United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change Clean Development Mechanism projects during 2007 and 2008.

Received 1 October 2009; accepted 2 December 2009; published 29 January 2010.

Citation: Montzka, S. A., L. Kuijpers, M. O. Battle, M. Aydin, K. R. Verhulst, E. S. Saltzman, and D. W. Fahey (2010), Recent increases in global HFC-23 emissions, Geophys. Res. Lett., 37, L02808, doi:10.1029/2009GL041195.

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