Every time someone says we can’t just stop polluting because it is too late this should be brought front and center. Yes, it took decades to reach this point and the problem is not truely solved yet, but not continuing to pollute kept things from getting worse and a potentional recovery is now on the horizon.
I think linking directly to the quoted source instead would’ve been a better choice considering it’s not behind an - albeit very weak - pay/subscribe wall.
It’s a gift link, so people shouldn’t hit the paywall for the next two weeks unless they’re doing something unusual, like disabling JavaScript or running a browser extension which strips off the paywall-bypass token.
Well it’s still asking for a subscription and hides the entire article. I could only read it after some manual HTML/CSS cleanups.
That’s fairly new; they weren’t doing that before.
I’ve pretty much always used a throwaway email address for that kind of thing.
Love to see it. Unfortunately we’re still early in the phaseout of HFCs via Kigali, and the chemical companies are doing their best to inject HFOs (and resulting PFAS) as far and wide as possible. We all need to shift to natural refrigerants ASAP. If you’re buying a refrigerator, make sure it’s r600a, a heat pump, r290 or r744, etc. Say no to HFOs (and HFCs).
Hey there your friendly neighborhood ref tech. R600a and R290 are straight up bad ideas ( more than a wee bit flammable (isobutan / Propane) ) and although r744 is good ( CO2 ) it’s pressure are nuts. ( the whole system needs to be made of steel/iron) and would not work well with most common split systems. So ya nice idea I am not sure what’s next but these are not the answers in private residents.
Why don’t you actually prove that the dangers are significant before writing them off? Just because it’s flammable doesn’t mean it’s dangerous, so just saying flammable = “bad idea” isn’t a good enough argument. We have been using isobutane for years for refrigerators. And propane for years for refrigerated cases. They are already here. There are low charge limits in place already, and guess what - these appliances aren’t blowing up and killing people. There are monobloc propane heat pump systems all over Europe and Asia already. CO2 does require high pressures, but that can be engineered.
We already have literal methane being piped into multiple appliances in people’s homes, often unvented, we have people driving around with 20+ gallons of gasoline next to their children in SUVs, we have wiring in every wall of buildings that can all start fires, we have batteries in our pockets and cars and bikes, etc. We have UL and TUV and other groups certifying equipment for safety, let them do their jobs instead of writing off these critically important solutions. The status quo isn’t good enough and the chemical industry has a dog shit track record.
There are some cars driving around with r744. In a crash the front explodes like a bomb, but it doesnt get on fire