For more than 35 years, millions of people worldwide have benefited from an international treaty that has phased out gases damaging the ozone layer, a vital atmospheric shield that screens out dangerous ultraviolet radiation from the sun.
Using sophisticated infrared technology, the Washington-based nonprofit group was recently able to detect releases of these chemicals — known as fluorinated gases, or F-gases — from two production facilities in Texas and Louisiana.
its report. The authors used a special technology — portable infrared spectroscopic gas detection — to capture imagery of plumes of gas, invisible to the naked eye, wafting from both facilities.emissions of three types of CFCs that are banned globally, except when used to make other chemicals. Honeywell reported emissions of one type of CFC to the Environmental Protection Agency in 2018, but not in 2019 through 2021.
The EIA detected emissions of HFOs at the Chemours plant, which the company was not required to report to the EPA. The EIA report builds on more than a dozen scientific studies on unexplained F-gas releases around the world totaling roughly 870 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent per year. That figure is equal to the annual emissions of more than 200 coal-fired power plants, or of Germany.