Mobile Air Conditioning

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What you can do:

When having your car air conditioner serviced, insist on proper repair procedures and quality replacement parts. For example:

- Ask to see the technician's section 609 certification and refrigerant recovery and recycling equipment (in the USA, both are required by law).

- Insist on professional service with recovery and recycling so that refrigerant can be reused and not released to the atmosphere.

Most technicians and shops are doing their part to help protect the environment. You should feel satisfied that yours is, too.

Spread the word! Tell your friends and family about the benefits of improved mobile air conditioning.

The Mobile Air Conditioning Climate Protection Partnership was a public-private partnership that operated from 1998-2010. While in operation, the partnership promoted vehicle air conditioning solutions that improved fuel efficiency and reduced the climate impacts of refrigerants. Many of these solutions, such as improved refrigerant recovery and recycling equipment, leak-tight a/c system design, and low-GWP refrigerants, are currently being implemented through regulatory and voluntary industry action. For the latest information on alternative vehicle A/C refrigerants, visit the EPA Significant New Alternatives Program website. For the latest information on vehicle fuel economy regulations, including incentives for improved air conditioning systems, visit the EPA's Transportation and Climate website.

Program History
Mobile air conditioners have a significant impact on the Earth's climate. Refrigerants used in vehicle air conditioners (also called "mobile air conditioners"), are powerful greenhouse gases. Additionally, vehicle air conditioners consume more energy than any other auxiliary vehicle equipment.

In the United States alone, vehicle air conditioners consume over 7 billion gallons of gasoline every year, emitting over 58 million metric tons of carbon dioxide.¹ Refrigerant leakage adds the equivalent of over 50 million metric tons of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere each year too.²

In 1998, the SAE International, the Mobile Air Conditioning Society Worldwide, and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency formed a global voluntary partnership to reduce the climate impacts of mobile air conditioning. Since then membership has grown to include representatives from Australia, Canada, Europe, and Japan, environmental and industry non-governmental organizations, and a global list of vehicle manufacturers and their suppliers. The partnership has four goals:

Promote next-generation mobile air conditioning systems that are better for the environment while satisfying customer safety, cost, and reliability concerns
Develop cost-effective designs and improved service procedures to minimize refrigerant emissions
Communicate technical progress to policymakers and the public
Document current and near-term opportunities to improve the environmental performance of mobile air conditioning system design, operation, and maintenance
Partners are also identifying alternatives for the refrigerant HFC-134a, the predominant refrigerant in today's vehicle air conditioning systems. HFC-134a is a potent greenhouse gas; one pound of HFC-134a released to the atmosphere has the same global warming effect as 1,300 pounds of carbon dioxide. (Prior to 1994, CFC-12 was used in most vehicle air conditioning systems. CFCs have been phased out because they damage the Stratospheric Ozone Layer that protects the Earth from harmful ultraviolet radiation.)
alternatives for the refrigerant HFC-134a

The Mobile Air Conditioning Climate Protection partnership is making great progress. On Earth Day 2004, it announced the Improved Mobile Air Conditioning (IMAC) 30/50 project with ambitious goals to reduce vehicle air conditioning fuel consumption by at least 30 percent and cut refrigerant emissions by 50 percent (view the public service announcement).

Four teams were organized to meet these goals. One team focused on improving the efficiency of mobile air conditioning systems. Another worked to reduce the amount of refrigerant needed in the system and minimize leakage from hoses, seals and other potential refrigerant emission sources. A third team explored ways to make the cabin cooler through ventilation, solar-reflective paints, and other heat reduction strategies. The fourth team worked to reduce refrigerant emissions that occur when air conditioners are recharged and repaired and when vehicles are retired.

On July 20, 2007, the Improved Mobile Air Conditioning project members announced that they had successfully met their goals. The efficiency team demonstrated that they could reduce the energy used by the vehicle air conditioner by over thirty percent using commercially available technology. The leakage team demonstrated that they could cut refrigerant leakage in half by using better parts. The heat load reduction team found that they could reduce the temperature of the passenger cabin by over 10 degrees Fahrenheit by using solar-reflective paints and ventilation. The servicing and vehicle end-of-life team issued recommendations to cut refrigerant emissions in half (read the recommendations and full report), and also introduced new refrigerant recovery, recycling, and leak-detection technology that will save 2.4 million kilograms of HFC-134a -the equivalent of one million metric tons of carbon-from being emitted to the atmosphere each year. Combined, these achievements can reduce the fuel used by vehicle air conditioners by 30% and cut refrigerant emissions in half. This would save 2.1 billion gallons of gasoline each year, and reduce overall greenhouse gas emissions by 9 million metric cons of carbon equivalent.

1 Source: Andersen, Hovland and Rugh (2004). “Significant Fuel Savings and Emission Reductions by Improving Vehicle Air Conditioning.” Available from the Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory on-line at: http://www.nrel.gov/vehiclesandfuels/ancillary_loads/publications.html
2 Source: United States Environmental Protection Agency (2009). 2009 U.S. Greenhouse Gas Inventory Report. Pages 2-20, 2-21. Available on-line at: http://epa.gov/climatechange/emissions/usinventoryreport.html

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Partnership Members:

AC Delco	Environment Canada
ACC Climate Control	Fiat Auto
AGRAMKOW	Four Seasons
Airsept	Friends of the Earth
Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers	General Motors
Arkema	Goodyear
Association of International Automobile Manufacturers	Honda
Audi	Honeywell
Australian Department of Environment and Heritage	Hutchinson FTS
Australian Greenhouse Office	Hyundai
Australian Federated Chamber of Automotive Industries	Indian Ministry of Environment and Forests
Australian Fluorocarbon Council	Indian Institute of Technology Delhi
Australian Federation of Automotive Parts Manufacturers	INEOS Fluor
Automotive Aftermarket Industry Association	Institute of Governance and Sustainable Development
Behr	International Organization of Standardization
Bergstrom	Isuzu
BMW	Japan Ministry of Environment
California Air Resources Board	Japan Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry
CalsonicKansei	Japan Fluorovarbon Manufacturers Association
Centro Ricerche Fiat	Japan Industrial Conference for Ozone Layer and Climate Protection
Clore Automotive	Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association
DaimlerChrsler	Johnson Controls
Denso	Kia
DuPont Fluoroproducts	Konvekta
Eaton	Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology
Ecole des Mines de Paris	Maflow
Edith Cowan University (Australia)	Mitsubishi Motors

Mobile Air Conditioning Society Worldwide	TEXA, S.p.a
Mobile Air Conditioning Partners Europe	Texas Instruments
Modine	The European Commission
Natural Resources Defense Council	The Energy and Resources Institute (India)
Neutronics	TI Automotive
Nissan	Toyota
Obrist	Tracer Products
Parker-Hannifin	Transpro
PPG	TYC Genera
PSA Peugeot/Citroen	U.S. Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory
Red Dot	U.S. Army RDE Command
Refrigerant Reclaim Australia	U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
RTI Technologies	Underwriters Laboratories
Sanden	United Nations Environment Programme DTIE
Shecco	University of Illinois
Sinochem	University of Maryland
Skye International Holdings	University of Braunschweig (Germany)
Snap-On Diagnostics	UView Ultraviolet Systems
Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers	Valeo
SAE International	Vehicle Airconditioning Specialists of Australia
Solvay Fluorochemicals	Visteon Corporation
SPX Robinair	Volkswagen
Subaru	Volvo Car Corporation
Subros	World Resources Institute
Suzuki	ZEXEL-Valeo
TATA Motors

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