CCCANZ VISITS THE BEEHIVE

CCCANZ sent a letter in July 2022 requesting a meeting with the ministers to discuss end-to-end refrigerant management scheme that tracks the custody of the F-gases from importation to recovery and destruction. On Thursday 16th March 2023, CCCANZ representatives met with Hon David Parker in Wellington and presented the blockchain solution and received positive feedback.

In our view, morphing the existing voluntary EOL scheme (Recovery) into the regulated PSS/PSO fails to address where the emissions are happening:

• The majority of DIRECT F-gas emissions occur at the asset level, this being largely due to leakage resulting from poor maintenance.

• It is estimated that circa 70% of bulk imported F-gases is used to recharge leaking systems, on top of this there are unaccounted emissions from plant that is not recharged due to poor maintenance practices.

• The other major cause of direct emissions is illegal discharges, while it is illegal to intentionally discharge F-gases to the atmosphere the lack of visibility means the cowboys can get away with discharging without risk of being caught.

• The avoidable INDIRECT emissions at the power station, aka the energy penalty, this results from asset energy operating inefficiencies due to refrigerant undercharge of assets, again a result of poor maintenance practise.

• Indirect emissions are an issue for all refrigerant types, not just the F-gases.

What is required is an end-to-end refrigerant management scheme that tracks the custody of the F-gases from importation to recovery and destruction. Knowing who has custody of the F-gases is achievable with a blockchain solution.

Furthermore, we believe an effective PSS must be established and managed by the peak industry organisations who are at the sharp end of refrigerant use, as well as being ultimately responsible for technician training and workplace safety.