An Estimate of the Recoverable Chlorofluorocarbons Available to Offset Future Carbon Dioxide Emissions

Abstract

The amount of sequestered chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) in the United States that potentially is available for capture and destruction during the next several decades is estimated. This work is motivated by recent proposed legislation that would require utilities to offset new carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions in several possible ways, including capturing and destroying their equivalent in CFCs. Past and future domestic CFC-11 and CFC-12 production levels are determined; the.annual sequestration amount is estimated; and an estimate of the recoverable amount of CFCs is made, expressed as carbon equivalents. The assumptions are such that an “optimistic” estimate is obtained, and the actual effectiveness of capture and recovery methods is not considered. Potentially recoverable CFCs peak in 1995—the first year in which recovery is assumed to occur—at around 130 million metric tons (Mt) carbon equivalent. The amount rapidly declines as production is affected by the Clean Air Act Amendments and other legislative restrictions on CFCs, reaching around 20 Mt in 2005 and then declining to about 2 Mt by 2015 and zero shortly thereafter. These amounts are sufficient in the late 1990s to help offset new CO2 emissions, but quickly become insignificant in the first several decades of the Twenty-First Century.