A renewed rise in global HCFC-141b emissions between 2017-2021

Luke M Western; Alison L Redington; Alistair J Manning; Cathy M Trudinger; Lei Hu; Stephan Henne; Xuekun Fang; Lambert J M Kuijpers; Christina Theodoridi; David S Godwin; Jgor Arduini; Bronwyn Dunse; Andreas Engel; Paul J Fraser; Christina M Harth; Paul B Krummel; Michela Maione; Jens Mühle; Simon O'Doherty; Hyeri Park; Sunyoung Park; Stefan Reimann; Peter K Salameh; Daniel Say; Roland Schmidt; Tanja Schuck; Carolina Siso; Kieran M Stanley; Isaac Vimont; Martin K Vollmer; Dickon Young; Ronald G Prinn; Ray F Weiss; Stephen A Montzka; Matthew Rigby

doi:10.5194/acp-22-9601-2022

A renewed rise in global HCFC-141b emissions between 2017-2021

Atmos Chem Phys. 2022 Jul 28;22(14):9601-9616. doi: 10.5194/acp-22-9601-2022.

Authors

Luke M Western^{1

2}, Alison L Redington³, Alistair J Manning³, Cathy M Trudinger⁴, Lei Hu^{1

5}, Stephan Henne⁶, Xuekun Fang⁷, Lambert J M Kuijpers⁸, Christina Theodoridi⁹, David S Godwin¹⁰, Jgor Arduini¹¹, Bronwyn Dunse⁴, Andreas Engel¹², Paul J Fraser⁴, Christina M Harth¹³, Paul B Krummel⁴, Michela Maione¹¹, Jens Mühle¹³, Simon O'Doherty², Hyeri Park¹⁴, Sunyoung Park¹⁴, Stefan Reimann⁶, Peter K Salameh¹³, Daniel Say², Roland Schmidt¹³, Tanja Schuck¹², Carolina Siso^{1

5}, Kieran M Stanley¹², Isaac Vimont^{1

5}, Martin K Vollmer⁶, Dickon Young², Ronald G Prinn¹⁵, Ray F Weiss¹³, Stephen A Montzka¹, Matthew Rigby²

Affiliations

¹ Global Monitoring Laboratory, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Boulder, CO, USA.
² School of Chemistry, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK.
³ Hadley Centre, Met Office, Exeter, UK.
⁴ Climate Science Centre, CSIRO Oceans and Atmosphere, Aspendale, Victoria, Australia.
⁵ Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO, USA.
⁶ Empa, Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology, Dübendorf, Switzerland.
⁷ College of Environmental and Resource Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China.
⁸ A/gent b.v. Consultancy, Venlo, Netherlands.
⁹ Natural Resources Defense Council, Washington, DC, USA.
¹⁰ Stratospheric Protection Division, Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, DC, USA.
¹¹ Department of Pure and Applied Sciences, University of Urbino, Urbino, Italy.
¹² Institute for Atmospheric and Environmental Science, Goethe University Frankfurt, Frankfurt am Main, Germany.
¹³ Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA.
¹⁴ Department of Oceanography, Kyungpook National University, Daegu, Republic of Korea.
¹⁵ Center for Global Change Science, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA.

Abstract

Global emissions of the ozone-depleting gas HCFC-141b (1,1-dichloro-1-fluoroethane, CH₃CCl₂F) derived from measurements of atmospheric mole fractions increased between 2017 and 2021 despite a fall in reported production and consumption of HCFC-141b for dispersive uses. HCFC-141b is a controlled substance under the Montreal Protocol, and its phase-out is currently underway, after a peak in reported consumption and production in developing (Article 5) countries in 2013. If reported production and consumption are correct, our study suggests that the 2017-2021 rise is due to an increase in emissions from the bank when appliances containing HCFC-141b reach the end of their life, or from production of HCFC-141b not reported for dispersive uses. Regional emissions have been estimated between 2017-2020 for all regions where measurements have sufficient sensitivity to emissions. This includes the regions of northwestern Europe, east Asia, the United States and Australia, where emissions decreased by a total of 2.3 ± 4.6 Ggyr^-1, compared to a mean global increase of 3.0 ± 1.2 Ggyr^-1 over the same period. Collectively these regions only account for around 30% of global emissions in 2020. We are not able to pinpoint the source regions or specific activities responsible for the recent global emission rise.

Grants and funding

EPA999999/ImEPA/Intramural EPA/United States