It’s almost 100 years since Thomas Midgley Jr. first synthesised chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs). It was 1928 and he was working for General Motors, looking for a safe refrigerant to avoid using flammable or toxic alternatives. General Motors and Dupont soon began producing ‘Freon’ chemicals, which quickly dominated the market for refrigerants and also found wide use […]
As more than 160 world leaders gather today in New York for the agreement’s signing ceremony, climate action has perhaps never been higher on the global governance agenda – but there’s more to be said and done to avert billions of tonnes of greenhouse gases from damaging our precious climate
Hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) are everywhere: in our cars, refrigerators, air-conditioners and wall insulation. They are also increasingly in our atmosphere, where they are important contributors to climate change. Yet you don’t hear HFCs – aka fluorinated- or F-gases – talked about all that much. Until now, that is