Refrigerants are indispensable substances that circulate through air conditioners and transport heat. However, the Montreal Protocol and the Kyoto Protocol restrict the use of conventional refrigerants that deplete the ozone layer and contribute to global warming, and the world needs refrigerants that mitigate these harmful effects. Developed countries have already converted to HFCs like R-410A that don’t deplete the ozone layer, but these refrigerants still have the problem of having a high global warming impact. Therefore efforts to find a next-generation refrigerant are in full swing.
In 2013, emerging countries began phasing out the use of conventional HCFC refrigerants such as HCFC-22. Air conditioner demand is growing in emerging countries, and if these countries follow developed countries in adopting R-410A, global warming will accelerate. That makes the conversion from R-410A to next-generation refrigerants a pressing concern.