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Mobile Air Conditioning
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Mobile air conditioners have a significant impact on the Earth's climate. Refrigerants used in vehicle air conditioners (also called "mobile air conditioners"), are powerful greenhouse gases. Additionally, vehicle air conditioners consume more energy than any other auxiliary vehicle equipment.
In the United States alone, vehicle air conditioners consume over 7 billion gallons of gasoline every year, emitting over 58 million metric tons of carbon dioxide.1 Refrigerant leakage adds the equivalent of over 50 million metric tons of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere each year too.2
In 1998, the SAE International, the Mobile Air Conditioning Society Worldwide, and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency formed a global voluntary partnership to reduce the climate impacts of mobile air conditioning. Since then membership has grown to include representatives from Australia, Canada, Europe, and Japan, environmental and industry non-governmental organizations, and a global list of vehicle manufacturers and their suppliers. The partnership has four goals:
- Promote next-generation mobile air conditioning systems that are better for the environment while satisfying customer safety, cost, and reliability concerns
- Develop cost-effective designs and improved service procedures to minimize refrigerant emissions
- Communicate technical progress to policymakers and the public
- Document current and near-term opportunities to improve the environmental performance of mobile air conditioning system design, operation, and maintenance
- Partners are also identifying alternatives for the refrigerant HFC-134a, the predominant refrigerant in today's vehicle air conditioning systems. HFC-134a is a potent greenhouse gas; one pound of HFC-134a released to the atmosphere has the same global warming effect as 1,300 pounds of carbon dioxide. (Prior to 1994, CFC-12 was used in most vehicle air conditioning systems. CFCs have been phased out because they damage the Stratospheric Ozone Layer that protects the Earth from harmful ultraviolet radiation.)
- alternatives for the refrigerant HFC-134a
The Mobile Air Conditioning Climate Protection partnership is making great progress. On Earth Day 2004, it announced the Improved Mobile Air Conditioning (IMAC) 30/50 project with ambitious goals to reduce vehicle air conditioning fuel consumption by at least 30 percent and cut refrigerant emissions by 50 percent (view the public service announcement).
Four teams were organized to meet these goals. One team focused on improving the efficiency of mobile air conditioning systems. Another worked to reduce the amount of refrigerant needed in the system and minimize leakage from hoses, seals and other potential refrigerant emission sources. A third team explored ways to make the cabin cooler through ventilation, solar-reflective paints, and other heat reduction strategies. The fourth team worked to reduce refrigerant emissions that occur when air conditioners are recharged and repaired and when vehicles are retired.
On July 20, 2007, the Improved Mobile Air Conditioning project members announced that they had successfully met their goals. The efficiency team demonstrated that they could reduce the energy used by the vehicle air conditioner by over thirty percent using commercially available technology. The leakage team demonstrated that they could cut refrigerant leakage in half by using better parts. The heat load reduction team found that they could reduce the temperature of the passenger cabin by over 10 degrees Fahrenheit by using solar-reflective paints and ventilation. The servicing and vehicle end-of-life team issued recommendations to cut refrigerant emissions in half (read the recommendations and full report), and also introduced new refrigerant recovery, recycling, and leak-detection technology that will save 2.4 million kilograms of HFC-134a -the equivalent of one million metric tons of carbon-from being emitted to the atmosphere each year. Combined, these achievements can reduce the fuel used by vehicle air conditioners by 30% and cut refrigerant emissions in half. This would save 2.1 billion gallons of gasoline each year, and reduce overall greenhouse gas emissions by 9 million metric cons of carbon equivalent.
1 Source: Andersen, Hovland and Rugh (2004). “Significant Fuel Savings and Emission Reductions by Improving Vehicle Air Conditioning.” Available from the Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory on-line at: http://www.nrel.gov/vehiclesandfuels/ancillary_loads/publications.html 
2 Source: United States Environmental Protection Agency (2009). 2009 U.S. Greenhouse Gas Inventory Report. Pages 2-20, 2-21. Available on-line at: http://epa.gov/climatechange/emissions/usinventoryreport.html
For more information about participation and membership:
Partnership Members:
| AC Delco | Environment Canada |
| ACC Climate Control | Fiat Auto |
| AGRAMKOW | Four Seasons |
| Airsept | Friends of the Earth |
| Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers | General Motors |
| Arkema | Goodyear |
| Association of International Automobile Manufacturers | Honda |
| Audi | Honeywell |
| Australian Department of Environment and Heritage | Hutchinson FTS |
| Australian Greenhouse Office | Hyundai |
| Australian Federated Chamber of Automotive Industries | Indian Ministry of Environment and Forests |
| Australian Fluorocarbon Council | Indian Institute of Technology Delhi |
| Australian Federation of Automotive Parts Manufacturers | INEOS Fluor |
| Automotive Aftermarket Industry Association | Institute of Governance and Sustainable Development |
| Behr | International Organization of Standardization |
| Bergstrom | Isuzu |
| BMW | Japan Ministry of Environment |
| California Air Resources Board | Japan Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry |
| CalsonicKansei | Japan Fluorovarbon Manufacturers Association |
| Centro Ricerche Fiat | Japan Industrial Conference for Ozone Layer and Climate Protection |
| Clore Automotive | Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association |
| DaimlerChrsler | Johnson Controls |
| Denso | Kia |
| DuPont Fluoroproducts | Konvekta |
| Eaton | Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology |
| Ecole des Mines de Paris | Maflow |
| Edith Cowan University (Australia) | Mitsubishi Motors |
| Mobile Air Conditioning Society Worldwide | TEXA, S.p.a |
| Mobile Air Conditioning Partners Europe | Texas Instruments |
| Modine | The European Commission |
| Natural Resources Defense Council | The Energy and Resources Institute (India) |
| Neutronics | TI Automotive |
| Nissan | Toyota |
| Obrist | Tracer Products |
| Parker-Hannifin | Transpro |
| PPG | TYC Genera |
| PSA Peugeot/Citroen | U.S. Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory |
| Red Dot | U.S. Army RDE Command |
| Refrigerant Reclaim Australia | U.S. Environmental Protection Agency |
| RTI Technologies | Underwriters Laboratories |
| Sanden | United Nations Environment Programme DTIE |
| Shecco | University of Illinois |
| Sinochem | University of Maryland |
| Skye International Holdings | University of Braunschweig (Germany) |
| Snap-On Diagnostics | UView Ultraviolet Systems |
| Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers | Valeo |
| SAE International | Vehicle Airconditioning Specialists of Australia |
| Solvay Fluorochemicals | Visteon Corporation |
| SPX Robinair | Volkswagen |
| Subaru | Volvo Car Corporation |
| Subros | World Resources Institute |
| Suzuki | ZEXEL-Valeo |
| TATA Motors |