Magnitudes, Trends and Identities of Fluorinated GHG Emissions Reported under the US Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program
Deborah Ottinger
(US Environmental Protection Agency)
Since 2012, industrial emitters of fluorinated greenhouse gases (GHGs) have reported their emissions of these GHGs under the U.S. EPA’s Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program (GHGRP). The data show that fluorinated GHG emissions have decreased from all reporting industries, dropping by a total of over 15 million metric tons of CO2-equivalent, a decrease of more than half since 2011. This trend exists across the major fluorinated GHGs reported under the GHGRP, with decreases seen for most HFCs and PFCs, SF6, and NF3. In the semiconductor sector, a reduction in emissions of approximately seven percent is seen between 2011 and 2018, once the time series is corrected to account for changes in the default emission factors that became effective in the 2014 reporting year. Reductions of approximately 40, 30, and 20 percent are seen for C2F6, C3F8, and fluorinated heat transfer fluids, but these reductions are partly offset by a 15-percent increase for CF4, and by 10- to 40-percent increases for NF3, SF6, and CHF3. This presentation will provide an overview of fluorinated GHG emission trends from different industries since 2011 and possible explanations for them, considering activity levels (e.g., production), emission rates, and evolving industry patterns and practices. Special consideration will be given to the semiconductor sector, investigating emission changes by fluorinated GHG, process type, and wafer size. This presentation will also survey the fluorinated GHGs emitted, their GWPs and atmospheric lifetimes, and the significance of their emissions for the U.S. and the rest of the world.