Australia: A news report in the Refrigeration and Air-Conditioning Contractors’ Association (RACCA) – Australia website has said that the Department of Environment and Energy has published answers to frequently asked questions (FAQs) on the HFC phase-down in the country.

According to the details available on the Department of Environment and Energy website, “the Australian Government will implement cost effective measures to reduce HFC emissions by up to 80 Mt CO₂-e in the period to 2030”. It further said that a “statutory phase-down of HFC imports will be implemented, commencing January 2018, and will reduce HFC emissions by 85 per cent by 2036”.

The Australian government, the news report said, will take measures as indicated in the Review of the Ozone Protection and Synthetic Greenhouse Gas Management (OPSGGM) Programme. Once the measures are in place, the news report said, industry players will be encouraged to move to technologies that use alternatives that have lower or zero global warming potential (GWP).

The FAQs published in the Department’s website provided further details, such as the stage wise phase-down of HFCs up to 2036, how will the phase-down work, what refrigerants will the phase-down apply to, changes for equipment importers and retailers. The entire section of FAQs and answers can be read here.