On the occasion of World Ozone Day, India released its cooling action plan to phase out chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), a major refrigerant widely used in all cooling equipment like air-conditions, freeze, foam applications, etc.
It is a major gas which is contributing to rapid depletion of the Ozone layer and warming climate.
CFCs are nearly 2,000 times more potent than carbon dioxide in terms of their global warming potential. Because of this, the world has come together to phase out the CFC by 2040 at their 28th Meeting of the Parties on 15 October 2016 in Kigali, Rwanda under the Montreal Protocol.
To phase out CFC, the Indian government has brought the Indian Cooling Action Plan (ICAP) document to phase out demand for refrigerants by 2037-38. It recommends an integrated approach to meet cooling requirements across the sectors including the Ministry of Road and Transport, Highway, Ministry of Power, Urban Development and others.
It has primarily recommended strengthening public mobility infrastructure like metro, trains and buses to discourage personal vehicles in Tier 2&3 cities. Further, it recommends the adoption of potential low global warming potential (GWP) and energy efficiency alternatives to be worked out.
It is also recommended for recycling and management of refrigerants generated from end-of-life vehicles or servicing.
Further, it has recommended the Department of Science and Technology for research and development in the area of low refrigerant charge energy efficiency in Mobile Air Conditioning.
Moreover, the Bureau of Energy Efficiency should introduce testing agencies to provide realistic fuel efficiency and emissions profiles and green labelling systems for cars to promote efficient vehicles.
The Ozone Cell, Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Government of India has been celebrating World Ozone Day since 1995 at the National and State levels. India became a party to the Montreal Protocol in June 1992.
Ozone Layer exists in the Stratosphere, between 10 KM and 40 KM above the Earth's surface and protects us from UV radiation from the Sun.
Ozone formed in the stratosphere is called stratospheric ozone or good Ozone. Without the Ozone layer, radiation from the sun would reach Earth directly, having ill effects on human health, i.e., eye cataracts, skin cancer, etc., and adverse impacts on agriculture, forestry and marine life.
Man-made chemicals containing chlorine and bromine reach the stratosphere and undergo a complex series of catalytic reactions, leading to the destruction of ozone. These chemicals are called Ozone Depleting Substances.
The Vienna Convention, an international treaty on the protection of the Ozone Layer, came into force in 1985. Under this convention, the Montreal Protocol came into force in 1987 to repair the ozone layer.