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Abstract
Production and consumption of CFC-11 (trichlorofluoromethane, CCl3F), CFC-12 (dichlorodifluoromethane, CCl2F2) and CCl4 (carbon tetrachloride) are controlled under the regulations of the Montreal Protocol and have been phased out globally since 2010. Only CCl4 is still widely produced as a chemical feedstock. After 2010, emissions of CFC-11 and CFC-12 should therefore mostly originate from existing banks (e.g. from foams, mobile air conditioning units and refrigerators); however evidence has emerged of an increase in global emissions of CFC-11 in the last decade, some of which has not been fully accounted for. The motivation for this work was to assess the emissions of CFC-11, CFC-12 and CCl4 from western Europe. All countries in this region have been subject to the controls of the Montreal Protocol since the late 1980s and, as non-Article 5 Parties, have been prohibited from producing CFCs and CCl4 for dispersive use since 1996. Four different inverse modelling systems are used to estimate emissions of these gases from 2008 to 2021 using data from four atmospheric measurement stations: Mace Head (Ireland), Jungfraujoch (Switzerland), Monte Cimone (Italy) and Tacolneston (UK). The average of the four model studies found that western European emissions of CFC-11, CFC-12 and CCl4 between 2008 and 2021 were declining at 3.5 % yr−1 (2.7 % yr−1–4.8 % yr−1), 7.7 % yr−1 (6.3 % yr−1–8.0 % yr−1) and 4.4 % yr−1 (2.6 % yr−1–6.4 % yr−1), respectively. Even though the emissions were declining throughout the period, the area including northern France, Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg showed consistently elevated emissions of CFC-11 compared with the surrounding regions. Emissions of CFC-12 were slightly elevated in the same region. CCl4 emissions were the highest in the south of France. France had the highest emissions of all three gases over the period 2008–2021. Emissions from western Europe (2008–2021) were on average 2.4 ± 0.4 Gg (CFC-11), 1.3 ± 0.3 Gg (CFC-12) and 0.9 ± 0.2 Gg (CCl4). Our estimated decline in emissions of CFC-11 is consistent with a western European bank release rate of 3.4 % (2.6 %–4.5 %). This study concludes that emissions of CFC-11, CFC-12 and CCl4 have all declined from 2008 to 2021 in western Europe. Therefore, no evidence is found that western European emissions contributed to the unexplained part of the global increase in atmospheric concentrations of CFC-11 observed in the last decade.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 7383–7398 |
| Number of pages | 16 |
| Journal | Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics |
| Volume | 23 |
| Issue number | 13 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 5 Jul 2023 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:This research has been supported by the UK Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) (contract no. TRN 1537/06/2018), the Met Office Hadley Centre Climate Programme funded by BEIS and Defra, NASA's Upper Atmosphere Research programme (grant nos. NAG5-12669, NNX07AE89G, NNX11AF17G, NNX16AC98G, NNX07AE87G, NNX07AF09G, NNX11AF15G and NNX11AF16G), the Swiss national programme CLIMGAS-CH (Swiss Federal Office for the Environment, FOEN), ICOS-CH (Integrated Carbon Observation System Research Infrastructure), the International Foundation of the High Altitude Research Stations Jungfraujoch and Gornergrat (HFSJG), the National Research Council of Italy, the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (Marie Skłodowska-Curie grant agreement no. 101030750), and NERC (grant nos. NE/S004211/1 and NE/V002996/1).
Funding Information:
The authors thank the UK Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) (contract number: TRN 1537/06/2018). Alison L. Redington and Alistair J. Manning were supported by the Met Office Hadley Centre Climate Programme funded by BEIS and Defra. The operation and calibration of the global AGAGE measurement network are supported by NASA's Upper Atmosphere Research programme through grants NAG5-12669, NNX07AE89G, NNX11AF17G and NNX16AC98G (to MIT) and NNX07AE87G, NNX07AF09G, NNX11AF15G and NNX11AF16G (to SIO). Financial support for the Jungfraujoch measurements is acknowledged from the Swiss national programme CLIMGAS-CH (Swiss Federal Office for the Environment, FOEN) and from ICOS-CH (Integrated Carbon Observation System Research Infrastructure). Support for the Jungfraujoch station was provided by the International Foundation of the High Altitude Research Stations Jungfraujoch and Gornergrat (HFSJG). The Ottavio Vittori station (CMN) is supported by the National Research Council of Italy. Luke M. Western received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie grant agreement no. 101030750. Matthew Rigby, Anita L. Ganesan and Luke M. Western were partially supported by NERC grants NE/S004211/1 and NE/V002996/1. The authors thank the staff supporting the acquisition of observational data used in this paper, across all sites and years dating back to 1989.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 Alison L. Redington et al.
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