The bad news: The refrigerants we use in air conditioners, fridges, and vehicles absorb hundreds to thousands of times more heat than carbon dioxide does. The good news: We’re in the middle of a global effort to replace them with lower impact alternatives. 
Will we replace them fast enough to hit climate targets? And in the meantime, can we prevent them from leaking into the atmosphere?
In this episode, Shayle talks to <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/ian-mcgavisk-35b09660">Ian McGavisk</a>, senior advisor at RMI for carbon-free buildings. An industry veteran, he recently co-authored a <a href="https://rmi.org/insight/refrigerant-reclamation/">report on recovering residential AC refrigerants </a>in the U.S., which have the carbon equivalent of 1.7 million cars. (Ian also works in business development at Transaera. Energy Impact Partners, where Shayle works, invests in Transaera.). Shayle and Ian cover topics like:
<ul>
<li>The sources of emissions in the refrigerant lifecycle </li>
<li>The economics of recovering and reclaiming refrigerants</li>
<li>Alternatives with low global warming potential and their tradeoffs, such as efficiency, flammability and concerns about forever chemicals</li>
</ul>
<h2>Recommended resources</h2>
<a href="https://rmi.org/insight/refrigerant-reclamation/">RMI</a>: Refrigerant Reclamation
<a href="https://drawdown.org/solutions/refrigerant-management">Project Drawdown</a>: Refrigerant Management
<a href="https://drawdown.org/solutions/alternative-refrigerants">Project Drawdown</a>: Alternative Refrigerants
<a href="https://www.epa.gov/sites/default/files/2016-12/documents/international_transitioning_to_low-gwp_alternatives_in_commercial_refrigeration.pdf">EPA</a>: Transitioning to Low-GWP Alternatives in Commercial Refrigeration
<a href="https://ozone.unep.org/system/files/documents/TEAP-May2024-Progress-Report.pdf">UN Environmental Programme</a>: Montreal Protocol On Substances That Deplete The Ozone Layer, Report Of The Technology And Economic Assessment Panel, May 2024 
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Shayle Kann

Fixing the refrigerant problem

The bad news: The refrigerants we use in air conditioners, fridges, and vehicles absorb hundreds to thousands of times more heat than carbon dioxide does. The good news: We’re in the middle of a global effort to replace them with lower impact alternatives.  Will we replace them fast enough to hit climate targets? And in [&hellip;]