Mysterious Emissions of Banned Greenhouse Gas Traced to Chinese Factories

Illegal production of CFC-11 in China has a climate impact equivalent to 16-20 coal power plants, the Environmental Investigation Agency estimates.

Chinese factories are illegally producing chemicals that damage the ozone layer and the climate. 

That was revealed in a survey of manufacturers carried out by the Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) and corroborated by the New York Times on Monday.

The EIA identified eight companies in four provinces that were using CFC-11 in the production of plastic foams, which are most commonly used for building insulation.  It is one of a group of chemicals banned under the 1987 Montreal Protocol to protect the ozone layer.

“These and other well placed sources in the Chinese chemical industry strongly suggest that this is a wider practice,” said the agency’s Avipsa Mahapatra.

The green watchdog estimates up to 70% of Chinese rigid foam production uses CFC-11, which has a global warming effect as well as depleting ozone.  By the EIA’s calculation, this illegal activity has a climate impact equivalent to 16-20 coal power stations.

Its findings go a long way to explain mysteriously high levels of the pollutant detected by air monitors, in data published in Nature last month.

Read more at Mysterious Emissions of Banned Greenhouse Gas Traced to Chinese Factories