/oss/taxonomy/term/1005/all en /oss/article/environment-you-asked/refrigerators-and-climate-change <p style="text-align:justify"><a href="http://blogs.mcgill.ca/oss/?p=5194"><img alt="" height="150" src="http://blogs.mcgill.ca/oss/files/2013/05/CFC-150x150.gif" width="150" /></a>The walls of refrigerators have to be heavily insulated in order to maintain efficient cooling. Polyurethane foam insulation has been the classic material used for this purpose and guess what it used to be “blown” with? Chlorofluorocarbons! Foams are created by blowing a gas into an appropriate substance to form bubbles. Of course the gas must not react with the material, and in the case of insulation, should not transmit heat. CFCs, the same substances used as refrigerants, were ideal, at least until their environmental consequences were discovered. Legislation was then introduced that called for the removal of the refrigerant from any discarded refrigerator. But, surely surprising to most people, far more CFCs were used for foam blowing than for refrigeration.</p> <p><a href="http://blogs.mcgill.ca/oss/2013/05/06/by-law-chlorofluorocarbons-cfcs-used-as-refrigerants-in-refrigerators-must-be-removed-before-the-appliance-can-be-discarded-this-only-solves-part-of-the-ozone-depletion-and-global-warming-problem">Read more</a></p> Mon, 06 May 2013 21:51:09 +0000 Joe Schwarcz PhD 1932 at /oss