PRODUCTION, SALES AND ATMOSPHERIC RELEASE OF FLUOROCARBONS THROUGH 1992

Introduction

Section 1: CFCs 11 and 12

Section 2: CFCs 113, 114 and 115

Section 3: HCFC-22

INTRODUCTION

Since 1976, the chemical industry has voluntarily reported the production and sales of fluorocarbons through a survey conducted by an independent auditor (Grant Thornton Co.). The purpose of the survey is to provide the scientific community with data on the atmospheric release of CFCs 11, 12, 113, 114, and 115, and HCFC-22. Data are available through 1992 for all six of these compounds.

Based on the data reported to AFEAS, the following trends in production occurred between 1991 and 1992:

It is estimated that the data collected for 1992 represent the following fraction of worldwide production:

The audited data from the reporting companies include production in the following countries: Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, EEC, Japan, Mexico, South Africa, United States, and Venezuela.

In previous years the AFEAS companies have provided an informal estimate of production in countries not covered by the industry survey such as: the Commonwealth of Independent States, former Czechoslovakia, India, the People's Republic of China, Romania, South Korea, and Taiwan. Although this has never been a rigorous exercise, comparison with the limited world data available from UNEP and with an analysis of the relationship between CFC production and various economic factors (Distribution of Emissions of CFCs among Countries, A. McCulloch, P.M. Midgley, and D.A. Fisher, submitted to Atmospheric Environment, August 1993), shows these informal estimates have given reasonable numbers. However, in 1992 the information available to AFEAS from non-reporting countries was too limited to make such an estimate worthwhile.

OVERVIEW OF THE REPORT

The report is divided into three sections: Section 1 - CFCs 11 and 12; Section 2 CFCs 113, 114 and 115; and Section 3 - HCFC-22. The data are provided on an annual basis. Sales are further divided into use categories, such as refrigeration, foam blowing agent, aerosol propellant, and other uses. A breakdown of sales into the Northern Hemisphere and Southern Hemisphere is also provided.

Included as an addendum to each section is the calculation of atmospheric release of these fluorocarbons based on the data compiled by Grant Thornton Co. Greater detail of the data collection emission estimation procedures has been published in the following papers:

P.H. Gamlen, B.C. Lane, P.M. Midgley, and J.M. Steed, The Production and Release to the Atmosphere of CFCl3 and CF2Cl2 (Chlorofluorocarbons CFC 11 and CFC 12), Atmospheric Environment, 20, 1077-1085, 1986.

D.A. Fisher and P.M. Midgley, The Production and Release to the Atmosphere of CFC-113, CFC-114 and CFC-115, Atmospheric Environment, 27A, 271-276, 1993.

P.M. Midgley and D.A. Fisher, The Production and Release to the Atmosphere of Chlorodifluoromethane (HCFC-22), accepted for publication by Atmospheric Environment, 1993.