THE government has stepped up its efforts to curb the
depletion of the ozone layer through an administration order that phases out
harmful chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) in car aircon systems. (R12, an ozone
depleting substance, is still widely used as a cooling agent in auto air
conditioning systems).
"The Land Transportation Office (LTO) and the Philippine
Ozone Desk (POD) are spearheading the implementation of Joint Administrative
Order No. 3 which calls for he total phase out (zero importation) of R12 in the
country by year 2010," POD program manager Ella Deocadiz said. "The Philippines
is one of the 189 country signatories to the Montreal Protocol on the Protection
of the Ozone Layer," she added.
Under the administrative order, the inspection of car aircon
systems have become a requirement for renewal and registration of vehicles. All
vehicles from model 1999 up are required to have an HFC-134a (R134a or non-CFC)
air conditioning system. Older models (1998 and below) with R12-using
air-conditioning system will still be allowed to register until the phase-out
year of 2012.
"However they may opt to retrofit their air-conditioning
system with alternative refrigerants, such as R-426A, which is the
ozone-friendly drop-in replacement for R12," Deocadiz said.
"The use of R-426A is an important factor in the government’s
program to protect the ozone layer. It has zero-depleting particles, is
non-flammable and designed for auto air-conditioning systems. Another advantage
of R-426A is it requires no system retrofitting and can be used as top-up," CIGI
product manager Mayen Laurina said. "These regulations are an important step in
the government’s program to reduce the emissions of ozone-depleting substances
into the atmosphere. R-426A is environment-friendly and is the easy and long
term solution to replace CFCs in our cars."
Consolidated Industrial Gases, Inc. (CIGI), the country’s leading industrial
gases supplier, is the first company in the Philippines to introduce R-426A
technology. CIGI is part of The Linde Group, which recently merged with The BOC
Group and created a world-leading industrial gases and engineering company with
an annual pro forma turnover of approximately 12.7 billion euro, operating
profit (EBIT) of 1.6 billion euro and approximately 53,000 employees worldwide.
