Estimate of Hydrofluorocarbon Emissions for 2012–16 in the Yangtze River Delta, China

Hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) have been widely used in China as substitutes for ozone-depleting substances, the production and use of which are being phased out under the Montreal Protocol. China is a major consumer of HFCs around the world, with its HFC emissions in CO₂-equivalent contributing to about 18% of the global emissions for the period 2012–16. Three methods are widely used to estimate the emissions of HFCs—namely, the bottom-up method, top-down method and tracer ratio method. In this study, the tracer ratio method was adopted to estimate HFC emissions in the Yangtze River Delta (YRD), using CO as a tracer. The YRD region might make a significant contribution to Chinese totals owing to its rapid economic growth. Weekly flask measurements for ten HFCs (HFC-23, HFC-32, HFC-125, HFC-134a, HFC-143a, HFC-152a, HFC-227ea, HFC-236fa, HFC-245fa and HFC-365mfc) were conducted at Lin’an Regional Background Station in the YRD over the period 2012–16, and the HFC emissions were 2.4±1.4 Gg yr⁻¹ for HFC-23, 2.8±1.2 Gg yr⁻¹ for HFC-32, 2.2±1.2 Gg yr⁻¹ for HFC-125, 4.8±4.8 Gg yr⁻¹ for HFC-134a, 0.9±0.6 Gg yr⁻¹ for HFC-152a, 0.3±0.3 Gg yr⁻¹ for HFC-227ea and 0.3±0.2 Gg yr⁻¹ for HFC-245fa. The YRD total HFC emissions reached 53 Gg CO₂-e yr⁻¹, contributing 34% of the national total. The per capita HFC CO₂-equivalent emissions rate was 240 kg yr⁻¹, while the values of per unit area emissions and per million GDP emissions reached 150 Mg km⁻² yr⁻¹ and 3500 kg yr⁻¹ (million CNY GDP)⁻¹, which were much higher than national or global levels.