07 May 2025

Natural Refrigerants in Heat Pumps: Pushing the Boundaries of Sustainability

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In Europe, the F-gas regulation from last year has increased the rate of the phase-down of synthetic refrigerants. By 2050, HFCs will no longer be allowed to be put on the market. The HFOs are excluded from this phase-out, but will be hit by the prohibition to market products with a nominal capacity of less than 12 kW, using any type of F-gases (unless required for safety reasons). In the rest of the world, the Kigali amendment to the Montreal Protocol prescribes a (slower) phase-down of the use of F-gases. In parallel, there is a growing concern about the release of PFAS, also known as “forever chemicals”. Almost all synthetic refrigerants belong to the PFAS group (according to the OECD definition). In the EU, there is a proposal to ban the use of all PFAS substances. Restrictions of these substances is also discussed or implemented in other parts of the world, e.g., in some states in the US. As the refrigerants constitute about 60% of all released PFAS, it can be expected that these restrictions will include most of the synthetic refrigerants we use today.