Commodities and Futures News

Biden admin targets use of climate-warming industrial gases

2023.07.11 13:23


© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: A cart sits in the refrigerated section of The Community Assistance Center food pantry, in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. April 12, 2023. REUTERS/Megan Varner/File Photo

By Timothy Gardner

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The Biden administration issued a final rule on Tuesday phasing down the use of gases known as hydroflourocarbons, or HFCs, used in refrigerators and air conditioners, in its latest step to curb emissions that cause climate change.

The final rule implements a 40% reduction in use of HFCs below historic levels from 2024 to 2028, the Environmental Protection Agency said. It builds on a 10% phase-down implemented for 2022 and 2023.

HFCs are also used in aerosols, and foam products. Their climate impact can be hundreds to thousands of times greater than the same amount of carbon dioxide.

The rule aligns with the bipartisan 2020 American Innovation and Manufacturing Act to reduce the production and consumption of climate-damaging chemicals by 85% by 2036, the EPA said.

“The U.S. HFC phase-down program, bolstered by domestic innovation to develop alternative chemicals and equipment, is paving the way for the United States to tackle climate change and strengthen global competitiveness,” Joe Goffman, an EPA air and radiation official, said in a statement.

The phase-down is part of a set of Biden administration rules, which also tackle power, vehicle emissions and the greenhouse gas methane. The overall impact is expected to reduce the equivalent of 15 billion metric tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions between 2022 and 2055, EPA administrator Michael Regan has said.

The EPA regulates the use of HFCs through an allowance allocation program and enforcement mechanisms. Industry needs allowances, the number of which are gradually reduced, to import and produce HFCs.

This year, the EPA plans two more regulatory steps. The first will restrict use of HFCs to ease transitions to alternative chemicals, and the second will be a proposed rule establishing requirements for the management of HFCs and HFC substitutes in air conditioners and other equipment.

Source link

Related Articles

Back to top button
bitcoin
Bitcoin (BTC) $ 96,848.95 2.03%
ethereum
Ethereum (ETH) $ 3,299.51 4.88%
tether
Tether (USDT) $ 1.00 0.11%
solana
Solana (SOL) $ 245.64 5.94%
bnb
BNB (BNB) $ 645.37 4.26%
xrp
XRP (XRP) $ 1.35 13.87%
dogecoin
Dogecoin (DOGE) $ 0.409168 12.10%
usd-coin
USDC (USDC) $ 0.999454 0.17%
cardano
Cardano (ADA) $ 0.980725 11.59%
staked-ether
Lido Staked Ether (STETH) $ 3,301.87 4.69%
tron
TRON (TRX) $ 0.20328 8.50%
avalanche-2
Avalanche (AVAX) $ 39.66 7.38%
stellar
Stellar (XLM) $ 0.50839 10.41%
the-open-network
Toncoin (TON) $ 5.95 2.13%
shiba-inu
Shiba Inu (SHIB) $ 0.000025 10.34%
wrapped-steth
Wrapped stETH (WSTETH) $ 3,930.31 3.99%
wrapped-bitcoin
Wrapped Bitcoin (WBTC) $ 96,565.87 1.53%
polkadot
Polkadot (DOT) $ 8.59 5.00%
chainlink
Chainlink (LINK) $ 16.52 5.70%
bitcoin-cash
Bitcoin Cash (BCH) $ 487.71 10.00%
weth
WETH (WETH) $ 3,297.03 4.89%
sui
Sui (SUI) $ 3.25 10.44%
pepe
Pepe (PEPE) $ 0.000019 11.66%
leo-token
LEO Token (LEO) $ 8.71 0.92%
near
NEAR Protocol (NEAR) $ 6.25 2.13%
litecoin
Litecoin (LTC) $ 94.04 8.79%
aptos
Aptos (APT) $ 11.82 8.76%
uniswap
Uniswap (UNI) $ 10.34 4.06%
wrapped-eeth
Wrapped eETH (WEETH) $ 3,491.15 3.88%
hedera-hashgraph
Hedera (HBAR) $ 0.140704 6.79%
usds
USDS (USDS) $ 1.00 0.08%
internet-computer
Internet Computer (ICP) $ 10.68 7.92%
crypto-com-chain
Cronos (CRO) $ 0.184032 9.63%
polygon-ecosystem-token
POL (ex-MATIC) (POL) $ 0.537201 6.85%
ethereum-classic
Ethereum Classic (ETC) $ 27.72 9.67%
ethena-usde
Ethena USDe (USDE) $ 1.00 0.20%
render-token
Render (RENDER) $ 7.38 7.48%
kaspa
Kaspa (KAS) $ 0.147474 8.41%
fetch-ai
Artificial Superintelligence Alliance (FET) $ 1.43 0.47%
bittensor
Bittensor (TAO) $ 495.29 8.56%
whitebit
WhiteBIT Coin (WBT) $ 24.40 1.22%
dai
Dai (DAI) $ 0.999886 0.19%
celestia
Celestia (TIA) $ 7.90 22.86%
arbitrum
Arbitrum (ARB) $ 0.813741 6.79%
bonk
Bonk (BONK) $ 0.000044 14.34%
mantra-dao
MANTRA (OM) $ 3.66 3.82%
cosmos
Cosmos Hub (ATOM) $ 8.36 2.04%
vechain
VeChain (VET) $ 0.040189 8.61%
filecoin
Filecoin (FIL) $ 5.35 0.88%
okb
OKB (OKB) $ 52.51 2.30%