title: Flow, stock, and impact assessment of refrigerants in the Japanese household air conditioner sector.
abstract: Refrigerants provide society with great benefits while have the potential to cause adverse effects on the environment and human health. The present study estimated time-dependent flows and stocks and assessed the effects of refrigerants (R-22, R-410a, and R-32) in household air conditioners in Japan. It was found that stock of R-22 and R-410a peaked at 49,147t in 2000 and 55,994t in 2017, respectively. The largest flow of R-22 and R-410a to waste phase occurred at 3417t/yr. in 2005 and 4011t/yr. in 2023, respectively. The total global warming potential (GWP) due to refrigerant emissions increased from 3.6kt CO2eq. in 1952 to 6999kt CO2eq. in 2019, and then decreased to 5314kt CO2eq. in 2030. The ozone depletion potential (ODP) peaked at 141t CFC-11 eq. in 2002. When substituting R-410a for R-22, the ODP decreased 50% while the GDP increased 8%. When substituting R-32 for R-410a, there was no effect on the ODP while the GDP decreased 6%. The human health damage due to the global warming effect of refrigerant emission was much higher than that due to the ozone depleting effect. The refrigerant emission in use and waste management phases dominated the human health damage. The dynamic estimation not only allows us to evaluate the performance of past policies but also supports the future sustainable management associated with the health effects of refrigerants.
authors.affiliation: Division of Sustainable Energy and Environmental Engineering, Graduate School of Engineering, Osaka University, 2-1 Yamadaoka, Suita, Osaka 565 0871, Japan. Electronic address: xue@em.see.eng.osaka-u.ac.jp.
authors.forename: Mianqiang
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Xue
authors.affiliation: Division of Sustainable Energy and Environmental Engineering, Graduate School of Engineering, Osaka University, 2-1 Yamadaoka, Suita, Osaka 565 0871, Japan.
authors.forename: Naoya
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Kojima
authors.affiliation: Division of Sustainable Energy and Environmental Engineering, Graduate School of Engineering, Osaka University, 2-1 Yamadaoka, Suita, Osaka 565 0871, Japan.
authors.forename: Takashi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Machimura
authors.affiliation: Division of Sustainable Energy and Environmental Engineering, Graduate School of Engineering, Osaka University, 2-1 Yamadaoka, Suita, Osaka 565 0871, Japan.
authors.forename: Akihiro
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Tokai
mesh_terms: D000393:Air Pollutants / Q000032:analysis*; D057232:Global Warming; D006794:Household Articles; D006801:Humans; D007564:Japan; D010126:Ozone / Q000032:analysis; D018505:Waste Management
chemical_list: D000393:Air Pollutants; D010126:Ozone
keywords: Chemical effects, global warming; Flow and stock; Human health damage; Ozone depletion; Refrigerants