The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced the selection of five recipients for grants aimed at tackling the climate crisis by reclaiming and destroying hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), highly potent greenhouse gases commonly used in refrigeration and air conditioning. Collectively, recipients will receive nearly $15 million in HFC Reclaim and Innovative Destruction grants, funded by the Inflation Reduction Act.
Joe Goffman, Assistant Administrator for the Office of Air and Radiation, commented: “This diverse set of projects will tackle the destruction and reclamation of HFCs in innovative ways to help protect our climate and bolster American technologies.”
Grant Details
The funding will range from $1,500,000 to $3,801,100 and support broader efforts to manage HFCs effectively. The selected recipients are The University of Washington, Texas A&M University, Drexel University, University of California-Riverside, and the Air Conditioning, Heating and Refrigeration Technology Institute. These projects aim to increase the reuse of existing HFCs, reducing the need for new HFCs and minimizing their overall climate impact.
HFCs and Their Impact
HFCs are potent greenhouse gases used in refrigeration, air conditioning, aerosols, and foam products. Their climate impact can be hundreds to thousands of times stronger than the same amount of carbon dioxide. The administration is working to phase down HFCs under the bipartisan American Innovation and Manufacturing Act, targeting an 85% reduction below historical levels by 2036. Additionally, the U.S. has ratified the Kigali Amendment, an international agreement to phase down HFCs and avoid up to 0.5 °C of global warming by 2100.
Climate Action and Economic Benefits
The announcement underscores ongoing efforts to combine climate action with U.S. manufacturing competitiveness, ensuring that American workers benefit from a growing global market for HFC reclamation and destruction. These projects will help facilitate the phasedown of HFCs by increasing the amount that can be reclaimed and reused, and by developing innovative techniques to destroy unusable HFCs, ensuring they do not contribute to climate change.
The EPA anticipates finalizing and awarding the grants to the selected applicants in the summer of 2024, with projects beginning in the fall and winter of this year.
