Dubai: Refrigerants harmful to the environment will be banned by 2040 in the UAE, a senior official said.
There is currently no universally applicable alternative to substances used for cooling in air conditioners and fridges.
The UAE banned CFCs (chlorofluorocarbons) in 2010 but tolerated the less-harmful HCFCs (hydrocholorofluorocarbons).
Experts have also raised the alarm against the use of hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), the current alternative to CFC and HCFC, citing the high global warming potential (GWP) value of most HFC substances.
A worldwide ban on producing CFC, which depletes the atmosphere’s protective ozone layer, came into effect in 2010.
Ozone helps block the sun’s ultraviolet rays that can cause cancer and other health problems in high doses.
Following a UAE cabinet decree earier this year, the UAE is phasing out current refrigerants while searching for alternatives suitable to both its extremely hot climate and the environment.
“We need to control it [refrigerants] and find suitable alternatives. We’re looking at what’s there globally,” said Othaibah Al Qaydi, director of chemicals and hazardous waste department, UAE Ministry of Environment and Water.
Her comments came on Tuesday on the sidelines of the two-day Annual Symposium on Alternative Refrigerants for High-Ambient Countries in Dubai.
No new substance has been approved so far, Othaibah added.
“This is under study, maybe it’ll be a mix of products. If they will be applied or not, we still have to see. We’re searching for that through many ways.”
Those means include hosting the symposium, now in its fourth year, and coordinating with a GCC-wide team for ozone action and the Emirates Authority for Standardisation and Metrology.
“Many people are not aware of this problem. You can’t see them [refrigerants], you don’t know they are around, but this is a global issue.
“What the UAE does individually to help with this will also have some impact on the rest of the world in a way because we all share the ozone,” Othaibah said.
The symposium is organised by the UAE Ministry of Environment and Water in partnership with the United Nations Environment Programme (Unep) and a number of representatives from the air conditioning and refrigeration industry.
