Revised EU F-gas regulation is law

March 06, 2024

The European Union’s revised F-gas Regulation, which mandates a a complete phase out of the consumption of HFCs across the bloc by 2050 as well as specific phase-out dates for the use of HFCs and HFOs in some heating and cooling equipment, has been published in the Official Journal of the EU and will be legally enforceable as of March 11.

This is set to create room for the uptake of alternatives to fluorinated gases – such as natural refrigerants – in refrigeration, heat pumps and air-conditioning equipment in the European market.

“We are happy that different asks from the progressive side of the industry are included in this final piece of legislation,” said Marc Chasserot, CEO and Founder of ATMOsphere, the publisher of R744.com. “Let’s now work to make this revision a success and ensure natural refrigerants can take over the market.”

The revision is intended to support and safely streamline the adoption of alternatives to fluorinated gases where these alternatives are available. The co-legislative bodies of the European Parliament and the Council welcomed the inclusion of a phase out of the consumption of hydrofluorocarbons by 2050, currently the only one in the world, as well as a drastic reduction of their production.

The legislatures also maintained the addition of the 20-year GWP metric initially proposed by the European Commission to inform stakeholders of the short-term effects of these chemicals on global warming when released into the atmosphere.

The European Parliament managed to maintain multiple provisions from its adopted position: bans on any fluorinated gases, whether HFCs or HFOs, are introduced for applications such as domestic fridges and small heat pumps – a global first.

PFAS links, training and certification provisions

The issue of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) is also covered in the preamble, which recognizes some of the substances that are covered by the Regulation are, or degrade into, PFAS. To ATMOsphere’s knowledge, this is the first piece of legislation that establishes the link between fluorinated gases and PFAS.

Training and certification provisions for alternatives, such as natural refrigerants, also landed in the final text, paving the way for their increased adoption. Finally, the legal text mandates the Commission to draft a report by July 1, 2027, to assess the feasibility to include mobile air-conditioning and transport refrigeration systems among the bans in Annex IV.

In the coming weeks, ATMOsphere will publish fact sheets explaining how the provisions in this revised Regulation are meant to support the uptake of natural refrigerants across multiple applications.