BELGIUM: The European manufacturers’ group Eurovent has rejected as “completely unrealistic” claims by the European Commission that hydrocarbon refrigerants could replace HFCs in air conditioning systems by 2030.

CHINA: Three of the venues for next year’s Beijing Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games will be employing R449A, the lower GWP alternative to R404A, in its refrigeration systems.

BELGIUM: A ban on the use of R410A in new stationary air conditioners and heat pumps is being considered under the review of the European F-gas regulation (517/2014).

CHINA/USA: The US and China have both committed to implementing the Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol and phase down the production and consumption of HFCs.

The Chinese president Xi Jinping has indicated that China, the world’s largest producer of refrigerants, will accept the Kigali Amendment to the Montreal to phase down HFCs.

The USA plans to engage with the EU on the issue of illegal HFC refrigerant imports, which, it says, are negatively affecting US exporters of environmentally friendly alternatives.

The Air-conditioning, Heating and Refrigeration Institute (AHRI) is to host a free-to-attend webinar on the US HFC phase down.

Honeywell has announced that it is now offering the lower GWP R410A replacement R454B, a refrigerant previously associated with its rival Chemours as Opteon XL41.