Carbon trading tempts firms to make greenhouse gas
December 17, 2010
by Fred Pearce
A handful of Chinese and Indian chemicals companies seemingly have the world over a barrel – or rather a large number of barrels of a super-greenhouse gas called HFC-23, which is 14,800 times more potent than carbon dioxide.
…As a result, the “waste gas” HFC-23 has become much more profitable to refrigerant factories than HCFC-22 itself. Watchdog groups like the London-based Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) say the compensation system ends up providing a strong incentive to overproduce HCFC-22, using methods that maximise the output of HFC-23.
Fearful of a burgeoning scam, CDM officials recently began a review. The European Union wants all credits for HFC-22 outlawed. But last week CDM officials in China threatened that factories there would respond by releasing the gas into the atmosphere….
