the eu f-gas regulation
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The EU F-Gas Regulation:
The way forwardBy Andrea Voigt – EPEE Director General
EPEE – The European Partnership for Energy and the Environment
Disclaimer: The information contained in this presentation represents EPEE’s point of view and not in any way that of the European Union as such.
Who is EPEE ?
A major part of the European RAC & HP industry
• > 200,000 employees in Europe
• > € 30 billion turnover in Europe
The full value chain of the
Refrigeration, Air Conditioning and Heat Pump sector
EPEE’s mission is to promote:
Environmental
Compliance
Safety
Affordability
Energy
Efficiency
EPEE’s main current fields of activities
• Promote Energy Efficiency
– Ecodesign Directive
– Energy Efficiency Directive
– Eco Label and Energy Label
– Energy Performance of Buildings Directive
– Renewable Energies Directive …
• The F-Gas Regulation and its revision
– Maintain and strengthen the F-Gas Regulation
– Support a technically and economically feasible phase-down
• Raise awareness on Market Surveillance
– Importance of properly enforcing and policing legislation
• Promote an HVACR association network at EU level
5
Who is the EU? The three Institutions
European Commission: Starts policy formulation• Sole right of Legislative Initiative• Enforces Community law• Administers & implements policies & legislation• Voice of the EU & negotiates international agreements
European Parliament: Co-legislates with the Council• 736 elected national politicians from 27 Member States• Elected every five years – last elections in 2009• Largest political group: conservatives• Largest delegations: GER, FR; UK; IT; SP; PL• MEPs work in Brussels, Strasbourg and home const.
European Council: Co-legislates with the Parliament• Represents the Member States via Ministers and
Permanent Representatives• Amends and adopts proposals• UK, FR, G (IT, SP, POL) = Key larger countries
ENERGY EFFICIENCY
Main EU initiatives & EPEE priorities
The Energy Efficiency
Action PlanThe Roadmap to a low
carbon economy in 2050
The Roadmap for a
ressource efficient
Europe
DG Energy
Commissioner Oettinger
DG Climate Action
Commissioner Hedegaard
DG Environment
Commissioner Potocnik
• Ecodesign
• EPBD
• Energy label ...
• F-Gas Regulation
• Renewable
Energies Directive..
• WEEE
• RoHS...
More concretely:The EU 20 – 20 – 20 target
The current F-Gas Regulation:Main requirements
Containment & recovery
• Preventive tightness checks: Frequency depends on the amount of F-gas contained
• Leak detection systems:For applications containing 300kg or more of F-gases
• Record keeping (logbooks)
• Recovery, recycling or destruction
Training and certification
• Adequate training of personnel handling F-gases
• Mutual recognition in the EU
• Minimum requirements only agreed upon in July 2007
Reporting obligations
• F-gas to be reported:with main categories of applications
• Applies to:producers, importers and exporters of quantities > 1to
• Member States to establish reporting systems.
Labelling
• For new equipment: Chemical abbreviation of F-gasWeight of the refrigerant Kyoto protocol-coveredWhere applicable: product is
hermetically sealed.
• Further information in the manual (e.g. GWP)
Does it work?YES: It has already started to deliver !
23 member states have
set up training centres
16 member states > 50%
certified personnel.
Average in EU27: 47.5%
16 member states > 50%
certified companies
Average in EU27 : 43.3%
20 member states have
notified certification bodies
• > 20% emission rate
reduction in the NL
• Approx. 20% emission
rate reduction in the
UK retail business
• Increased awareness
of the need of tighter
and better designed
components and
connections
• Regular inspection and
maintenance accepted
as being necessary
23 member states have
notified penalties
Source: Ökorecherche; Data: as of July 2011
Will it reduce emissions?YES: substantially !
Source: Commission report Oct 2011
If all provisions of F-Gas Regulation and MAC Directive are fully
applied, emissions will at least stabilise at todays levels
Source: - 46%
- 44%
- 28%
Reduced emission rates:
From 20-25% to 3.5%
Increased awareness:
Industry and operators
understand the environmental
impact of HVACR
Higher reliabilty:
Manufacturers and installers
increased quality of equipment
& service
Higher productivity:
Installers increase productivity of
own activities due to high quality
HVACR systems
Cost savings:
Refrigerant, spare part and
energy savings for owners due
to regular maintenance
The predecessor of the F-Gas Regulation:The Dutch STEK scheme, in place since 1992
Cost of STEK: EUR 0.33 / hour / service engineer
A practical example on implementation: Hungary
• Hungarian Monitoring &
Certification Body
• > 7600 certified personel; 1200
certified companies; > 2000
registered operators; > 22000
registered refrigeration circuits
• ODS and F-Gas regulations merged
into one global registration and
certification system
• Web-based registration and
certification system
• Barcode-ID and circuit labelling
• Online track-keeping of all services
(leakage checks, maintenance, etc.)
• Access to the database by
authorities
Lessons learned so far…1. Co-operation between national governments
and the industry is essential
• A recipe for success (i.e. the UK, Hungary, Slovakia, theNetherlands).
• It is essential to ensure that the obligations of the F-GasRegulation are communicated to all those affected and arebeing understood correctly.
• The UK F-Gas Support is a prime example for successfulcommunication: removes hurdles and stimulates compliance
2. The implementation of a complex piece oflegislation such as the F-Gas Regulation takestime:
• It took 5 years for the STEK system to be fully understood andimplemented by all actors in the Netherlands. Several of theimplementing measures under the F-Gas Regulation (labelling,training) only entered into force in 2008.
Lessons learned so far…3. Containment works
• Unfortunately there is a lack of available data -- littletime has passed since the implementation of the F-GasRegulation.
• STEK showed a major improvement in leakage:From 25% emissions to 3,5% emissions in 7 yearstime with even lower emissions percentages knowntoday (in 2011, VRF systems in the Netherlandsreached less than 0.5% emissions).
• AREA (contractors) /EPEE survey:When and where the F-Gas Regulation has beenimplemented correctly contractors observe a cleardecrease in refrigerant emission rates.
• The F-Gas Regulation has clearly lead to betterawareness among users.
Lessons learned so far…4. The bigger picture…
• The HVACR industry is extremely diverse:Any regulatory measure needs to take into account this diversity.
• The choice of a refrigerant depends on a range of factors:Climate, application, energy efficiency, safety, cost, technical viability, direct and indirectemissions, etc.
• Implementation takes time:The EU has 23 official working languages and 27 Member States with their own nationallegislative regimes.
Lessons learned so far…
5. The F-Gas Regulation has boosted innovation• New alternatives have been developed (HFOs)
• Improvements in HFC technology (lower GWP), e.g. cascades, micro-channel,etc.
• Other sectors using HFCs are keen to be included under the F-Gas Regulation (i.e.refrigerated transport sector). Some countries have done so already (FR, NL, ES)
The revision of the F-Gas Regulation
Art. 10 of the F-Gas Regulation 842 / 2006:
• By 4 July 2011, the Commission shall publish a report based on the experience of the application of this Regulation.
• Where necessary, the Commission shall present appropriate proposals for revision of the relevant provisions of this Regulation.
Ökorecherche
report
Stakeholders
COMMISSION REPORT
Experience with 842/2006 & Need for further action
YES: Revision NO: Revision
Öko-Institut
report
Stakeholders
COMMISSION REPORT
Impact assessment on different policy options
COMMISSION legislative proposalQ2
20
12
Q1
20
12
Q
4 2
011
The Commission Report:Public Consultation launched until Dec 19Key points:
1. It is still too early to quantify the effect
of the Regulation’s containment and
recovery provisions
2. If all provisions are fully applied in all
Member States, the Regulation & the
MAC Directive would stabilise EU-27
emissions at today’s levels of 110
million tonnes of CO2eq – despite the
growing use of HFCs
3. In the context of the overall EU-objective
to cut emissions by 80-95% by 2050,
stabilising the F-Gas emissions at
today’s level is not adequate. More
efforts are required.
4. The Commission supports global
action under the MP to phase-down
HFCs
Suggestions to further reduce emissions:
1. Drive transition to technologies with lower
GWP. Savings potential up to 70 mt CO2eq:
– Phase-down: cost estimated to be < 20€/to CO2eq
– Bans
– Voluntary agreements
2. Improve containment and recovery
provisions:– Cost effectiveness questioned: 41€/to CO2eq
– Full implementation required
– Extension to transport refrigeration considered
3. Improve monitoring– Extend to pre-charged products and equipment
imported or exported from EU
– Enhance MS reporting systems for emission data
4. Take account of latest scientific information– Fluids to be considered
– GWP values to be considered (4th IPCC)
The importance of the global context
Source: Ökorecherche
HFC market growth takes place in the developping world !
The F-Gas Regulation and its revision:Benefits & objectives
The F-gas regulation:
Its main benefits:
• Strong EU-wide legal framework
• Lower emissions via containment
• Monitoring of emissions
• Freedom of refrigerantchoice for highest efficiency, safety, and lowestemissions.
In the longer term:
• Pushes innovation
• High-skilled workforce
• Improved quality ofequipment, education andtraining
The revision:
EPEE‘s objectives:
1. Full implementation ofthe Regulation
2. A realistic andbalanced global phase-down
3. No sacrifice on energyefficiency, safety andaffordability
EPEE‘s priorities on top of the currentF-Gas Regulation…
• Improving awareness, surveillance and control Assignment of trained control bodies in the member states
Awareness campaigns at operator level
Controls at installer level
• Broadening of the F-Gas Regulation’s scope Controls at retail sales channel level Include transport refrigeration
• Recovery and reuse of HFCs Incentives for installers and operators, e.g. deposit schemes Allow recovery and transportation of HFCs by certified
companies
• Harmonization of certification Harmonized CEN standard EN 13313 Create EU wide databases
• Leakage rate targets Harmonized CEN standard EN 15834
EU methodology to determine relative refrigerant loss
The EPEE roadmap for emissionreduction
Phase down
Improvement
Full
implementation
Low carbon
economy
2020
targets
A one size-fits-all solution ?
… There is no perfect refrigerant !
Phase-Down: A soft landing
TODAY
2020
2030
2050
Phase-Out: A high-risk command and control policy
Phase-down
What is it?
A gradual reduction
The benefits:
• Achieves climate goals
• Allows for flexibility andaffordability
• Fosters innovation
• Strengthens competitiveness
• Conserves resources
• Promotes recycling
• Can be a global solution
• Encourages containmentprinciple set by F-gas policy
Phase-out
What is it?
Makes products illegal
The risks:
• Technology prescriptve
• Jeopardizes 2020 & future targets
– Heat pumps & geothermal plants use f-gases
– Loss of energy efficiency
• Undermines competitiveness
• Can lead to unsafe practice
• Plant closures & job losses in EU
• High costs to society
EPEE’s five main recommendations for legislators
1. EPEE calls for a holistic approach with a focus on
overall CO2 emissions
2. Four attributes (Safety, Environment, Economy and
Energy Efficiency) must be taken into consideration
when making decisions
3. Energy efficiency is key for industry and society
4. A realistic and balanced phase-down provides
regulatory certainty on CO2 equivalents => along with
energy efficiency mandates, this ensures success for
2020 and for future targets
5. No prescriptive bans or GWP cut offs as these are
counter productive for energy efficient systems
Thank your for your attention !
For more information, please contact:
EPEE – The European Partnership for Energy and the
Environment: www.epeeglobal.org
Avenue des Arts 46
1000 Brussels