Israel doing away with refrigerants that harm environment
Jan 16, 2024
Tel Aviv [Israel], January 17 (ANI/TPS): Israel's Ministry of Environmental Protection is publishing a new guide that it says will help businesses and factories prepare for Israel's transition to green refrigerant gases that will reduce damage to the climate and the environment.
The ministry's goal is to reduce the use of HFCs, thus complying with Israel's international obligation by virtue of its membership in the Montreal Protocol and to ratify the obligation stipulated in the Kigali Amendment.
The Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol is an international agreement to gradually reduce the consumption and production of hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs).
Most of the refrigeration and air conditioning systems in Israel use HFC type refrigerant gases for their operation. These gases are powerful greenhouse gases and are very harmful to the climate. That is why the countries of the world decided to gradually reduce the use of these gases.
The rate of reduction in the use of HFC gases was determined and approved in the Kigali amendment to the international Montreal Convention which was signed by the countries of the world. As part of it, all countries are required to reduce the use of these gases until reaching only 15 per cent of the average consumption in the years 2011 to 2013.
In 2020, steps were set in the update to the hazardous materials regulations to gradually reduce the use of HFCs. In October 2023, the reduction steps were updated to allow additional limited time for the economy to prepare to reduce the use of HFC gases.
Naama Veld, Senior Coordinator - Energy and Climate Change at the Ministry of Environmental Protection: "Global air conditioning and refrigeration is undergoing a revolution. Investing today in systems based on HFC gases is a lost investment, which establishes the dependence on coolers that contribute to the climate crisis and is a growing economic burden on the businesses that use them." (ANI/TPS)
