Many remember the ferocity of the Refrigerant Wars in the 1990's as industry debated pros and cons of refrigerant properties which grew to include environmental and increasing safety considerations. Europe spearheaded the early use of a mixture called R-407C for many unitary and chiller applications. R-134a and other refrigerants entered the market for specific applications with competitive and regulatory pressures shaping the landscape which included increasing use of natural refrigerants including hydrocarbons and CO2.

Although there is no consensus on what the best refrigerant is for each type of product or each part of the world there was an emerging picture that recently appears to have become more cloudy.

The growing battle over use of R-134a in mobile air conditioning in Europe has been brewing for a number of years with an earlier agreement by the auto industry to use R-134a having been reversed to use R-1234yf. This reversal was proceeding reasonably well until Mercedes maker Daimler decided that R-1234yf did not meet safety standards Daimler developed internally and announced they would stay with R-134a for their cars due to the elevated flammability risk with R-1234yf.

The latest volley has been fired in this intensifying battle with France banning the sale of new automobiles with R-134a. Germany is allowing the sale of such. Which refrigerants for auto ac has still to be determined. Other parts of the world are starting to address this same issue.

The turbulence in the industry on the issue of "refrigerants" continues to grow as various parts of the global HVAC/R industry increasingly realize there are choices in refrigerants and opportunities in selecting or developing custom refrigerants for their products, for the technologies they use in their products, for their part of the world or country where national regulations can create or destroy a market overnight.

Middle East countries have recognized this opportunity and have been looking at the high ambient performance of new refrigerants and seeing opportunities worth pursuing. A UNEP-UNIDO project was initiated last month in Dubai with funding from the MLF of the Montreal Protocol titled Promoting Low-GWP Alternative Refrigerants in Air-Conditioning Industry for High Ambient Countries. This initiative will coordinate activities and research for what is a significant part of the global HVAC/R market, that of high ambient conditions.

The move to custom refrigerants is accelerating. Look for growing interest in having unique refrigerants (and custom blends which may have many of the same "ingredients"), but offer unique advantages to different markets and different applications around the world.

The Refrigerants Issue will continue to present opportunities and risks. This is not the time for complacency.

Editor's Note: CR4 would like to thank Larry Butz of GEA Consulting for contributing this blog entry.