http://neutronicsinc.com/news/refrig...ch06/Gary.html

Things to worry about:

• R12 refrigerant (an HFC gas... ozone depletion) was replaced in the 90s by R134a to solve the problem of the day. It should be noted that escaping gas is more probable in an automobile than a stationary device, but R12's molecules are larger than R134a and therefore less likely to find weaknesses in the system
• R134a is a serious greenhouse gas and its escape from car's A/C system will help warm the planet, has the potential to cause asphyxiation because it's heaver and displaces oxygen, and might be a contributor to testicular cancer. It has to be replaced with an alternative, starting in 2011 for automobiles originating in jurisdictions that signed the Kyoto Protocol
• R744 looks like it will be the de facto replacement, but who is going to switch to it in the USA, or even have widespread support for it? Does refusing to sign the Kyoto Protocol mean that the USA will lack motivation to invoke a change?

This may become a problem for some hybrid models, should they continue to be imported into the next decade. Virtually any import vehicle is affected, actually.

 

Interesting article, I had no idea that there was a move from R134a. I seriously doubt that the US will move towards R744 because the US Government seems adverse to enacting any new environmental laws at this point under the Bush Administration. Furthermore, this move towards a greener coolant would force investment on the part of domestic auto manufacturers, which means the Auto Lobby would be pressuring lawmakers to not make any changes. Look at how hard they are fighting a proposed move to a 35MPG standard.

 

Of course these guys are upset, they manufacture refrigerent identification systems. And I do find it Ironic that now r-134a is a bad gas. Must be that Dupont 's patient is running out on r-134a like it did for r-12