Fridges: the key to keeping Earth cool?

Рет қаралды 33,737

11 ай бұрын

How we can cool down Earth with... fridges? Watch my course on science communication by signing up to Nebula (and get 40% off a subscription): go.nebula.tv/simonclark
My course "Turn data into stories" on Nebula: nebula.tv/turn-data-into-stories
According to at least one well-respected ranking of solutions to climate change, refrigeration is the number one way we can reduce carbon emissions. In this video I talk about why, and how we can make that a reality. No, it doesn't involve putting the Earth in a fridge.
Note that rankings of emissions reductions change over time! It's been a few years since the Drawdown book was published, and on their website refrigeration is no longer at the top spot. But that's because they've split "refrigeration" into two solutions, and especially when accounting for implementing the Kigali Amendment, it's still the single largest solution by emissions avoided.
REFERENCES
Drawdown book: Hawken, Paul (2017). Paul Hawken (ed.). Drawdown: The most comprehensive plan ever proposed to reverse global warming. New York, NY: Penguin Books. ISBN 9780143130444.
1. • The Fridge | How it Wo...
2. • The nightmare future h...
3. www.metoffice.gov.uk/research...
4. unfccc.int/sites/default/file...
5. drawdown.org/
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Music by Epidemic Sound: epidemicsound.com
Some stock footage courtesy of Getty.
Edited by Luke Negus.
This fun video essay looks at the number one way we can reduce carbon emissions. According to project drawdown, the best way to reduce carbon emissions is to replace refrigerants in fridges and air conditioning units. In this video I talk about hydrofluorocarbons or HFCs, and the crucial steps in phasing them out, including by the Kigali amendment to the Montreal Protocol. If you like videos from Mark Rober, Smarter Every Day, Climate Town, or Wendover, you'll like this video essay about climate change.
Huge thanks to my supporters on Patreon: Felix Winkler, CC, Rebecca Rivers, Ebraheem Farag, Thomas Charbonnel, Mark Moore, Philipp Legner, Zoey O'Neill, Veronica Castello-Vooght, Heijde, Paul H and Linda L, Marcus Bosshard, Liat Khitman, Dan Sherman, Matthew Powell, Adrian Sand, Stormchaser007 , Dan Nelson, The Cairene on Caffeine, Cody VanZandt, Igor Francetic, bitreign33 , Thusto , Andy Hartley, Lachlan Woods, Andrea De Mezzo.
Chris Conrey, Lord Gigenshtain, Christian Weckner, Frida Sørensen, Ned Funnell, Corné Vriends, Aleksa Stankovic, Meagan, Indira Pranabudi, Chaotic Brain Person, Simon H., Julian Mendiola, Woufff, Ben Cooper, Mark Injerd, dryfrog, Justin Warren, Angela Flierman, Alipasha Sadri, Calum Storey, Mattophobia, Riz, The Confusled, Conor Safbom, Simon Stelling, Gabriele Siino, Ieuan Williams, Tom Malcolm, Leonard Neamtu, Brady Johnston, Rapssack, Kevin O'Connor, Timo Kerremans, Thomas Rintoul, Lars Hubacher, Ashley Wilkins, Samuel Baumgartner, ST0RMW1NG 1, Morten Engsvang, Farsight101, Haris Karimjee, K.L, fourthdwarf, Sam Ryan, Felix Freiberger, Chris Field, ChemMentat, Kolbrandr, , Shane O'Brien, Alex, Fujia Li, Jesper Koed, Jonathan Craske, Albrecht Striffler, Jack Troup, Chrismarie , Sven Ebel, Sean Richards, Kedar , Alastair Fortune, Mat Allen, Mach_D, Keegan Amrine, Dan Hanvey, Simon Donkers, Kodzo , James Bridges, Liam , Wendover Productions, Kendra Johnson.

Пікірлер: 318

@sashasscribbles 11 ай бұрын

At the very minimum something everyone who watches this video can do is be careful when disposing of old fridges and AC units; and ofc be careful when buying new ones. Will absolutely do so myself, thank you for informing me on this Simon c:

@NothingXemnas 11 ай бұрын

While I still have no interest in buying a new fridge, I fully agree with that. So much so that i have a file with notes for home appliances, including HVAC systems, which reminds me of things worth the awareness. One such a thing is to prioritize HFOs over HFCs, as mentioned in the video. Even then, some HFOs degrade into persistent pollutants, so that too requires research. Gladly, there is quite a lot of research on HFOs today, so there is an ever increasing amount of more stable, less polluting refrigerants. Refrigerators/heat pumps are here to stay, so might as well live intentionally and choose well.

@timbushell8640 11 ай бұрын

@@NothingXemnas the what happens afterwards... very important. But beware f being made 'wholly' responsible as the plastics (read oil) industry did with recycling plastic - at the consumer level - but then never had the sorting or reusablity within their supply chain and processing. It isn't like the wasteful food industry - at least that 'waste' could be composted.

@sashasscribbles 10 ай бұрын

@@timbushell8640 Absolutely, consumers being made responsible for the problems of corperations is disgusting and we need to avoid it. I'd say in the case of refridgerants; mainly fridges, freezers and ACs; individual consumers can have enough of an impact to make it worth it. Especially since replacing your fridge tends to be like, a once a decade task so its not that much effort to be careful while doing so y'know?

@LoremIpsum1970 9 ай бұрын

Certainly, you need to ascertain which refrigerant is being used in both old and new...(post above)...though a lot of people will still shirk the disposal costs by dumping old goods...

@ricardoludwig4787 11 ай бұрын

I knew refrigeration was a problem, but I had no idea of the scale. Good to know how impactful this could be

@maeldorne5522 11 ай бұрын

This makes me hopeful and helps me see possible solutions in a less overwhelming way

@joewentworth7856 11 ай бұрын

We installed a heat pump last year and I luckily discovered this before selecting the unit. We chose r290 with a negligible global warming potential. The alternative r32 typically contain a charge equivalent to a year of running a gas boiler if it is released into the environment. If they are disposed of correctly then it's going to be less but a percentage will leak or be incorrectly disposed of.

@johnthomas2970 11 ай бұрын

Great to hear a plug for Project Drawdown. It’s a great read with so many details. Love it

@hedgehog3180 11 ай бұрын

On the topic of air conditioning it would also be nice if we could replace individual household ACs with district cooling. District cooling has already been deployed in a few trial runs, there's one in Copenhagen for example, and shouldn't really be anymore district heating. The energy savings from the greater efficiency would be enormous and it'd have a secondary benefit in that it could help combat the heat island effect, since ACs just move heat outside of a building and therefore heat up the local area and therefore add to the demand for ACs. A district cooling system could make sure to deposit the heat somewhere, where it won't be a problem and potentially even find some practical use for all of this waste heat, like in industry. District cooling obviously has some challenges that district heating doesn't face and it will still need more energy since we don't really have such a thing as "waste cooling" in industry from which to tap from but it still has all the upsides of district heating.

@alansmithee419 9 ай бұрын

Seems like a plumbing nightmare to me, but as you say district heating is already a thing so clearly whatever problems I could think of have already been resolved.

@LoremIpsum1970 9 ай бұрын

As far as I can gather, district cooling can rely on: district heating and seawater intake, the former a byproduct of Industry. I can see this working in certain areas but not others, even with renewables, so it's a location-dependent option. How much residential uptake has there been, seeing DC was initially aimed at industry and commercial users due to their high AC costs?

@facelessone86 11 ай бұрын

One thing I don't think you mentioned is that refrigeration can be used to heat home! Heat pumps are much more efficient than resistive heating our burning fuel and while it becomes less efficient at low temperatures it is getting better all the time.

@nighteule 11 ай бұрын

Yes, he mentioned heat pumps but didn't say what they are :P

@SimonBrice 11 ай бұрын

One of the most informative and engaging science channels on the KZfaq, put together by someone with a qualified background who carefully researches their subject. Great to see an objective focus on the facts and providing balance to any arguments presented. Thanks for providing this service. Great work!

@njdarda 11 ай бұрын

I've kept my refrigerator opened ever since you posted the video. Thanks Simon! I'm doing my part!

@lyrimetacurl0 10 ай бұрын

like Starship Troopers

@xani666 11 ай бұрын

I remember some people with oooooold cars that had freon-based AC replaced it with propane as freon was either expensive or outright unavailable, I guess it went full circle. I also noticed fridges using propane have "minimum room size" requirement, presumably to not get explosion if it leaks

@bootmii98 11 ай бұрын

What's wrong with using CO2 as a refrigerant? It's better for the environment than methane or halocarbons

@AndrewReesonLeather 11 ай бұрын

@@bootmii98I assume it doesn't have the necessary properties to be an effective refridgerant

@AngDavies 11 ай бұрын

@@bootmii98it is used, quite frequently (R744) but it's better suited for heavy industrial use rather than home use (it's quite high pressure)

@xani666 11 ай бұрын

@@bootmii98 Higher pressure requirements requiring more expensive stuff inside. But there are heat pumps using CO2 to get good performance when there is cold outside

@gregorymalchuk272 11 ай бұрын

@@bootmii98Carbon dioxide as a refrigerant requires incredibly high pressures and its low critical point means that it won't condense at even moderately high temperatures. HFCs are the best off-patent refrigerants we have.

@melissamybubbles6139 11 ай бұрын

It's good to see you Simon. We're all proud of you.

@wiesorix 11 ай бұрын

Interesting, I have watched the CFC video and I did know that there are greenhouse gasses that are much more potent than CO2 , but I never realized HFC pose such a big problem too especially for such a small application. Great video!

@rileyobrien2902 11 ай бұрын

Love your work Simon! Keep it up :)

@msaditu 11 ай бұрын

Excellent video, Simon! My son asked me to buy him Project Drawdown when he was 12 after watching one of your videos. He's been sharing information from it in school ever since. I've lapsed on my Curiosity Stream/Nebula subscription but I will definitely get Nebula again using your link because your course sounds fantastic.

@TBSkyen 11 ай бұрын

1:30 "It's a complicated process that you don't need to understand" **TECHNOLOGY CONNECTIONS HAS ENTERED THE CHAT**

@AccordeonTom 11 ай бұрын

Incredible video! I’m glad you’re back Simon.

@GeFlixes 11 ай бұрын

3:55 "Thermal oxidation process". Or you know, setting stuff on fire.

@antalz 11 ай бұрын

Not exactly. It's only really a fire if it's a self-sustaining. That doesn't work because the CF bond is stronger than the CO bond. So the heat doesn't come from the thing being burned, but has to come from the outside.

@kendrajohnson6535 11 ай бұрын

Goodness me! I had no idea about HFCs... Wonderful video - thank you, Simon :) I'm looking forward to watching your course as well!

@danielheltberg6202 11 ай бұрын

I’m proud of you too! I enjoyed this video and I’m looking so much forward to watching the class since I got Nebula last winter on an impulse buy. Science communication is so cool!

@MrTroutsdale 11 ай бұрын

Currently working as a carbon and energy consultant and your videos are always useful for ideas to give clients in their net zero plans.

@bartroberts1514 11 ай бұрын

Project Drawdown itself is a great resource for that, too.

@MrTroutsdale 11 ай бұрын

@@bartroberts1514 will definitely be taking a look. Unfortunately a lot of the plans my clients have are to electrify but the UK government isn't doing a very good job at increasing renewable energy's

@bartroberts1514 11 ай бұрын

@@MrTroutsdale For practical refrigeration and building energy questions, ASHRAE is getting more advanced and active. Sometimes you have to skip the government and go to the people the government goes to.

@jenmorricone4014 11 ай бұрын

The lack of awareness, this LATE in the game is so DEPRESSING. Thank you so much for this information. 😭

@tvuser9529 11 ай бұрын

Good to know. My 20 year old fridge is surely full of HFC. My brand new heatpump uses R32 difluoromethane, which turns out is also an HFC. I read it has a 100-year global warming potential of 675 times CO2. Way better than the 14800 you cite for HFC23, which is maybe why it is allowed in a new product, since I'm in a Kigali amendment country? Still much worse than propane.

@OldShatterham 11 ай бұрын

Certainly a way of reducing emissions I wouldn't have imagined. Thanks for making this video!

@gianmarcoguarnier2525 11 ай бұрын

Nice to see you back man, hope everything is going awesome

@StratosFair 11 ай бұрын

Thanks for the great content Simon, I learned a lot on this one !

@herrwoland3500 11 ай бұрын

I feel so much better after watching this video, thank you so much for your as always excellent work 👌

@nateshrager512 11 ай бұрын

Thanks for bringing this to light, hopefully this is something we can all agree on and work on as was done with CFCs originally

@Luwuluf 9 ай бұрын

I had no idea!!! Thank you! Also congrats on the course :)

@scienceislove2014 11 ай бұрын

Thanks ... I love to learn new things and this video was really interesting..

@Zift_Ylrhavic_Resfear 11 ай бұрын

Thanks for the video

@grimaffiliations3671 11 ай бұрын

awesome work sir

@tadhgtwo 11 ай бұрын

Great video Simon.

@NirHL 11 ай бұрын

This video was very good! It really drew my attention and kept it, which is sadly rare these days!

@polarbearfelly 11 ай бұрын

Cheers Simon. Brilliant, brilliant content!

@Rjkilcoyne1994 11 ай бұрын

Love the work you do, I had heard of this problem and as much as it has kind of gone now the podcast 'how to save the planet' was really informative as much as it was US based rather than UK

@Fs3i 11 ай бұрын

As someone who has both an AC and Fridge, and recently moved them, I was sooo careful with them - their potential is scary.

@xani666 11 ай бұрын

propane refrigerant based fridges often have minimal room size in the manual - that is if your room is that big there isn't enough propane into fridge to make it into explosion

@gregorymalchuk272 11 ай бұрын

@@xani666es, they're explosive, it's why we banned butane and propane in domestic refrigeration in the 1930s. The Grenfell tower fire was caused by an isobutane fridge jet-fire. There are videos of the aftermath of fridge explosions on KZfaq. The whole kitchen gets destroyed, stud walls are blown out, and metal shrapnel embedded in walls across the room. We shouldn't be changing refrigerants until safe, off-patent alternatives are available.

@laletemanolete 11 ай бұрын

Looking foward to your class on Nebula!

@whyarenamessohardtocomeupw2916 11 ай бұрын

Excellent video

@ThijsSchrijnemakers 11 ай бұрын

welcome back Simon

@astoni314 11 ай бұрын

'The Einstein-Szilard or Einstein refrigerator is an absorption refrigerator which has no moving parts, operates at constant pressure, and requires only a heat source to operate. It was jointly invented in 1926 by Albert Einstein and his former student Leó Szilárd, who patented it in the U.S. on November 11, 1930 (U.S. Patent 1,781,541). The three working fluids in this design are water, ammonia, and butane.[1] The Einstein refrigerator is a development of the original three-fluid patent by the Swedish inventors Baltzar von Platen and Carl Munters.' 'Been there done that' even before global warming, heating. evaporation. Bosch have sold low GWP butane fridges for decades.

@maceroni5869 11 ай бұрын

HFC are also used as the liquid/coolant in car air conditioning. A good number of Electric cars also use air conditioning to temperature control there battery to improve efficiency.

@SEDresden 11 ай бұрын

Oh man, the more I hear about Heat Pumps, the cooler they sound 😅

@jimthain8777 11 ай бұрын

same here. I wish I could put my strata on one (several), whatever it would take, but there's this small strata council stumbling block...

@Jason-gq8fo 11 ай бұрын

Tell that to the uk government

@solexxx8588 11 ай бұрын

R32, R290 and R744 are far better refrigerants with much lower GWP. Transcritical CO2 (R744) has a GWP of 1 compared to R410a, the most common refrigerant now with a GWP of 3920.

@antronx7 11 ай бұрын

Yea, ill never buy an AC with R410a. Give me R32 with its 600 GWP or a R290 but need to plumb chilled water pipes to the central unit to avoid bringing in flammable gas into the house.

@gregorymalchuk272 11 ай бұрын

R290 is explosive which is why it was banned in the 1930s. Carbon dioxide requires extreme pressures, heavy piping and heat exchangers, and refuses to condense in even moderately high temperatures. And the hydrofluoroolefins are all outrageously expensive because the patents are still in force.

@bartroberts1514 11 ай бұрын

@@gregorymalchuk272 Your outrageous falsehoods never seem to end. R290 was lobbied against by the big chemical interests in the USA, which was why irrational regulations came in. The substance is safe enough to use in lighters and barbecues, and the amount of it in a refrigerator is closer to a lighter than to a barbecue. Your patent-trolling seems curious, on a day when a third of Americans are experiencing the hottest temperatures of their lives because of GHGs. Refrigerators don't explode because of combustion of flammable gases, except the ones in 400 degree+ infernos; refrigerator explosions are due to overpressure from compressor faults.

@bartroberts1514 11 ай бұрын

@@antronx7 So.. there's nothing flammable in your house?

@AmateurBMS 11 ай бұрын

@Simon Clark, please do a follow up about magnetic cooling!

@WAMTAT 11 ай бұрын

Very cool video

@Hogmatix 11 ай бұрын

Hello Dr. Simon, I am very interested in asking a follow up question regarding AC and Fridges, do you know if there is a system by which we can identify products that have already switched their refrigeration units? When we bought our AC last year (in Canada) we checked for the green stickers on energy efficiency but there wasn't really any obvious way to check refrigerants so it would be awesome if you knew of a way to check appliances for this. Thanks in advance (ps if you can then I can get our landlord to replace our fridge with an energy efficient and HFC replaced one haha). You're doing amazing work!

@punkdigerati 11 ай бұрын

It's always printed somewhere on the unit. It will start with an R- with a number after.

@antronx7 11 ай бұрын

My window AC has R32. Its only 600 times GWP versus 1400 times R134a in a car AC.

@larswillems9886 11 ай бұрын

7:56 This finally proves that the light does indeed turn off when the fridge is closed. ;)

@peterchandler8505 11 ай бұрын

In Simon's fridge... Have you drilled a hole in your fridge door to check...? ;) ;) (guess sticking a camera inside might be cheaper...? ;) )

@camelopardalis84 11 ай бұрын

@@peterchandler8505I can just push the button that is normally being pushed by the door by hand to check.

@peterchandler8505 11 ай бұрын

@@camelopardalis84 old joke about drilling a hole in the fridge door... .... ...

@camelopardalis84 11 ай бұрын

@@peterchandler8505 Okay.

@PGMT22 11 ай бұрын

Have you ever made a video about why the montreal protocol was so effective? I tgink itd be an interesting analysis if theres enough content there

@camelopardalis84 11 ай бұрын

"The Nightmare Future Humanity Avoided". He also refers to that video in this one here.

@nuwang2381 11 ай бұрын

I really love these videos, you truly are an expert on climate change and your make extrodinary videos on the topic of climate change it is is absolutely amazing

@roger7341 11 ай бұрын

This is all great talk until it comes time to face reality. Heating and cooling devices that may use greenhouse gases often represent a significant investment for owners, and maintaining or replacing them may be a significant financial burden. Several years ago I purchased a heat pump, only to learn recently that the original refrigerant for my unit is no longer being produced, and the cost for an alternate refrigerant for this device is more than ten times higher.

@gregorymalchuk272 11 ай бұрын

Yep, the forced transition to R410A is barely 12 years old, and they already want to get rid of it. They just started rolling out R32 in air conditioners and heat pumps, and now this guy wants to ban that too.

@bartroberts1514 11 ай бұрын

@@gregorymalchuk272 Climate change is real, dangerous and costly. And you're making out that somehow the minor technical issues of switching to low-e refrigerants scales to that level? Because of wrong interpretation of what happened in the 1930's, made up incendiary explosions that never happened, and disbelief in ammonia mini-fridges? There's something else going on with you. Work for the pipeline industry, perhaps?

@spaceecks1793 11 ай бұрын

r290 looks especially promising because it doesn't lose pressure as quickly as other HFCs during the refrigeration cycle, meaning its more power efficient as the compressor doesn't have to run as hard to keep the cycle going.

@gregorymalchuk272 11 ай бұрын

It's explosive, which is why it was banned in 1930s in the first place. An Isobutane fridge caused the Grenfell tower fire. We shouldn't be transitioning refrigerants until safe off-patent alternatives are available.

@Mozart380 6 ай бұрын

But it is flamable which causes a lot of risk IF there is a leak in the system. On small scales it shouldnt be a problem though.

@patrick_test123 11 ай бұрын

3:51 'Thermal oxidation process' 🧐 Burn it.🤠

@shooty22 10 ай бұрын

Marquees brownlee did a video on his solar roof and the largest energy drainer by a large margin was the air conditioning. So not only does the refridgerant used for them hurt but they also suck tons of electricity to run

@BrianSantero 11 ай бұрын

Cool story. Hot topic.

@Dantyx1 4 ай бұрын

I'd never heard of Project Drawdown before, what a crime! Thanks for informing people about this

@jimthain8777 11 ай бұрын

Absolutely stealing "silver buckshot", it's such an appropriate image of our best weapon against our own mistakes.

@f4ked535 11 ай бұрын

NH3 is used in bigscale cooling. warehouses, factories and so on

@UmbraHand 11 ай бұрын

Issue there is where you get ammonia from. Ammonia is massively carbon intensive and you need it for fertilizers, so I’d reckon it isn’t a easy swap

@f4ked535 11 ай бұрын

@@UmbraHand You do need it for fertilizer, explosives and others. But i dont know what u mean with Carbon intensive. Its ohne nitrogen and oxigen

@UmbraHand 11 ай бұрын

@@f4ked535 Ammonia is made by the Haber Process, which requieres combining nitrogen and hydrogen at 500C and 200-400 atmospheres. That is a lot of energy. Never mind that hydrogen comes from methane cracking, which releases methane and carbons dioxide from the reaction and leaks.

@gregorymalchuk272 11 ай бұрын

@@UmbraHandAll refrigerants require energy to produce. The point is that you use it over and over in the cooling cycle. The real problem is that anhydrous ammonia is lethally toxic and will melt your flesh. Which is why it was banned in domestic refrigeration in the 1930s when CFCs became available.

@bartroberts1514 11 ай бұрын

@@gregorymalchuk272 These bans in the 1930s you keep going on about? Don't you mean lobbying by DuPont in the 1930's led to regulatory capture by the industry? Because I know I've worked on ammonia refrigeration units less than 80 years old. Perhaps what you have isn't so much 'information' as 'slogan' for the fossil sector?

@PremierCCGuyMMXVI 11 ай бұрын

Considering Earth had its hottest days on record recently, hopefully this is a wake up call. But I didn’t know those HFCs were so much more dangerous than CO2 when it comes to the Greenhouse Effect.

@bartroberts1514 11 ай бұрын

Danger = Likelihood times effect. In terms of total volumes, fossil CO2 is still the big bad, due its gross tonnage introduced to the atmosphere from external (underground) sources; methane remains #2, both on volume and because although its rated potential is 'only' 25, that's a rating over an infinite timeframe: for the first decade, the rating is 88, as it takes fairly long for CH4 to break down into CO2 in the upper stratosphere -- even longer if H2 portion increases and interferes in that breakdown. It's more that HFCs are a dumb way for us to shoot ourselves in the foot; while lucrative for profit-centers, the smarter move would have been to bio-propane as a refrigerant.

@gregorymalchuk272 11 ай бұрын

@@bartroberts1514What alternative to HFCs are you proposing? Explosive hydrocarbons? Outrageously expensive, on-patent hydrofluoroolefins?

@bartroberts1514 11 ай бұрын

@@gregorymalchuk272 Biopropane and CO2 from flaring CH4 seeps are pretty decent reasonably priced refrigerants. Can you name the three biggest home refrigerator explosions in history? And HFCs aren't expensive on-patent materials? WHAT IS WRONG WITH PEOPLE? THE PLANET IS BURNING, RECORD HEAT IS KILLING TENS OF THOUSANDS, A THIRD OF AMERICANS ARE EXPERIENCING THE HOTTEST WEATHER OF THEIR LIVES, THERE'S FLOODS AND DROUGHTS KILLING OFF FARMS, AND YOUR CONCERN IS PATENTS?

@Thoran666 11 ай бұрын

Hi Simon, great video but I've got a question. What's the cost of the alternative? Like how much CO2 equivalent do they generate and what do they destroy or require to be destroyed?

@noty2673 11 ай бұрын

based and real climate policy instead of individual action pilled. great video.

@johnbaxter189 9 ай бұрын

Hi Simon

@deschmichael 11 ай бұрын

New book to read, and I appreciate your videos. Can someone define "ABA structure"?

@Seraphim262 11 ай бұрын

Start with a topic, build up on it, and circle back to the beginning. Maybe take a peek in his Nebula class for his definition.

@ATM648 11 ай бұрын

Was this video not posted to Nebula Simon?

@bartroberts1514 11 ай бұрын

Refrigeration - reduce production of GHGs, replace GHGs with non-GHGs, destroy the GHGs that have been produced in a way that doesn't release GHGs, and use refrigeration to reduce food waste while also using heat pumps (essentially air conditioners run backwards) for heating more efficiently. That's a particular case that is a model of the overall fossil case: reduce extraction of fossil carbon (bitumen, coal, gas, limestone, oil..); replace fossil with alternatives like geothermal, solar and wind energy, geopolymer cement, low-carbon metallurgy like Elysis and Hybrit; destroy the fossil carbon that has been produced in a way that doesn't release more GHGs (glassify plastics and use as aggregates in concrete vs feeding them to bugs, eg); and use fossil-free systems to improve biodiversity while feeding the hungry.

@mircdom4603 11 ай бұрын

why this is not yet on nebula, youtube is publishing this first... or you published it on nebula later..

@CUBETechie 11 ай бұрын

Can whe use heatpumps to pump it in closed Areas and use ih for i dont know drying etc

@AP-cc5ym 11 ай бұрын

I was hoping to see Simon make the connection between refrigerants and heat pumps because so much coverage of heat pumps doesn’t mention their use of refrigerants, but it’s going to be increasingly significant.

@punkdigerati 11 ай бұрын

As part of a larger focus on right to repair, we should require that all refrigeration/heat pump units come with a fill/discharge port. Most inexpensive refrigerators are filled and then brazed or soldered shut, making removing or recharging the refrigerant difficult and often not worth the cost of the repair. It would also allow for the collection of waste refrigerant on EOL, which could also be required by legislation.

@nighteule 11 ай бұрын

yesssss

@gregorymalchuk272 11 ай бұрын

The number 1 leakage failure point in small refrigeration systems is the service valves themselves. I'm not necessarily opposed to it. But the real right to repair is guaranteeing access to refrigerants. You can't repair your fridge when the Greens banned the refrigerant you need to do the repair.

@bartroberts1514 11 ай бұрын

@@gregorymalchuk272 I'm an ASHRAE member, and I find your posts curiously at odds with facts. Are you perhaps a lawyer for DuPont?

@angustin6590 11 ай бұрын

Nice

@petergivenbless900 11 ай бұрын

Hi, I am a new subscriber! While I can appreciate the joke about combating climate change by having everyone open their fridge doors, this (and most other videos I have seen addressing climate change), focuses on things we need to stop doing (or do differently) but not on new things we can do to fight climate change. I realise that everything can come with unintended consequences in such a complex system (such as replacing CFCs with HFCs to "heal" the Ozone hole inadvertently introducing one of the most powerful greenhouse emitters in its place!), but what is the current state of scientific thinking on ways of proactively cooling the atmosphere?

@vigortheone3527 11 ай бұрын

In the world of refrigeration it gets even better. For a few years now, the use of CO2 as a refrigeration medium is in use already. Especially within the supermarket sector. So we can collect the co2 in the atmosphere and use it in the cooling of buildings. And this technology will be implemented more and more within smaller units. And when there is a leak in the system, we can, in theory recollect that co2 for use again.

@patrick247two 11 ай бұрын

It all comes down to waste management.

@LoneHowler 10 ай бұрын

And here I thought you were going to suggest a mega geothermal plant where we could store heat in the earth and cool air, or chill water. Which of course would need to be a massive and way to expensive project to just cool the earth. But imagine doing this to cool cities and warm them with the stored heat in winter

@ristekostadinov2820 11 ай бұрын

Some supermarkets uses CO2 for refrigeration gas, i wish home fridges use that. It have a GWP of 1. Also the 1st fridges used to have amonia, but they were leaky and people had nausea. But after 80 years of production i'm confident that we can have a good product.

@timbushell8640 11 ай бұрын

Ha ha ha fridges with fans! You crack me up (speaks a refridgerent engineering user - just a few thousand 'tonnes of refrigeration)... Don't forget all the car AC being run whilst queuing for the car park space in the multi-storey... pumping out its 'heat of rejection' and so over heating the car park, making people 'push' their car AC harder and harder...

@vigilantcosmicpenguin8721 11 ай бұрын

Technology Connections will be unsurprised that, once again, the answer is about latent heat and the refrigeration cycle.

@Conus426 11 ай бұрын

Policy is always the best possible solution. I recently got involved in local politics in my country (not as a representative, sadly i cant affort that), but by writing to representatives about my ideas. Please, if you can find the time, whoever is reading this, try and get involved! It truly makes a massive difference!

@dtghanvey 11 ай бұрын

Let me be the first to say Pretty cool video 😎

@marceltelang7825 11 ай бұрын

Oh patron supporter

@lyrimetacurl0 10 ай бұрын

I was hoping there's a way to destroy HFCs in the atmosphere but apparently they only last about 15 years in the atmosphere, I guess that's long enough for them to cause "a lot of damage" though. Still nice idea to destroy them on site as the video says.

@GoD1014 10 ай бұрын

Alright lads, we all leave our fridge doors open, and we'll have this whole thing sorted

@letransformateur6477 11 ай бұрын

very funny thumbnail!

@emmabird9745 11 ай бұрын

Wow. I knew refigerants were large GHG but that much!!! There may be a small snag with your propane alternative. It is a by-product of the oil industry and not particularly a large by-product (butane too). If all the world swited to propane, where will it come from (after the oil industry closes down)?

@davmor1558 11 ай бұрын

Make a video on Quantum eraser

@Timmie1995 11 ай бұрын

When I moved out of my parents' house to a student home, I got a really old fridge. When I moved out of that first student home, I accidently caused a leak in the refrigerant. Then in my next home, I wanted to de-ice the freezer in a very old fridge, but I was in a hurry. I had found before out that some careful work with a claw hammer does wonders, but I hurried to much and yanked the claw hammer into the top of the freezer, causing a huge leak. So either I've single-handedly destroyed the ozone layer, or I've single-handedly increased global temperatures by 2 degrees. Sorry guys.

@kori228 11 ай бұрын

heat pumps? I've heard of that from Technology Connections edit: vid's not about heat pumps, cool though

@darthmaul216 11 ай бұрын

Cool. Lol great pun

@nighteule 11 ай бұрын

Yes, they're the same thing just with a reversing value

@jan-willemgoedmakers3430 11 ай бұрын

Thank you for the insightful video. Considering that at the current warming people are already buying more air conditioners AND the world has been focused mostly on CO2 levels alone, could you elaborate in a video on the past and future contribution of refrigerator fluid to global warming as compared to CO2? If I understand correctly most climate models are based on the past and projected emissions of CO2, but if refrigerator fluid has a significant impact, we may be ignoring something. Over the last few years we see weather records broken year after year after year. Are we possibly doing worse than we think and is climate change speeding up beyond what the current models predict?

@Suna32 11 ай бұрын

Okay guys, I'll open my fridge at 6pm CEST tonight. Let's end climate change together!

@vigilantcosmicpenguin8721 11 ай бұрын

Let's petition it to the UN. If they can get every member nation to sign the Montreal Protocol, then surely our proposition stands just as much of a chance.

@louisana 11 ай бұрын

Are there any organizations I could donate to that collect and destroy refridgerants properly?

@abody499 11 ай бұрын

Ah man you could have used Lim Jahey Sunnyvale Trailer Park supervisor for the propane bit. Never mind, Hank is aiight.

@arxaaron 11 ай бұрын

At the end of the content section it is implied that the refrigerant used in existing, operational cooling systems can be collected, properly disposed of, then replaced with much greener options. Given the massive number of refrigeration units already in use globally, replacing them is a substantial challenge and cost. However, if I could simply and affordably replace the HFC coolants in my existing HVAC and refrigerator units, I would be jumping at the opportunity to participate in combating the existential threats of climate change. Is this a REAL and ACCESSIBLE option for everyone's home appliances? Are there refrigerant replacement programs being promoted or put in place anywhere that you know of?

@gregorymalchuk272 11 ай бұрын

For home refrigeration and HVAC, changing refrigerants means changing out thousands of dollars of installed equipment. Industrial users have more options available. There actually are a few refrigerants being used instead of R-22, sometimes even in home use, but I'm not aware of any for R-410a, and not the current major domestic refrigerant R-32.

@toyotaprius79 11 ай бұрын

Profit off oil isn't in question?

@malixcrash4126 11 ай бұрын

What's that beeping in the background?????

@trevinbeattie4888 11 ай бұрын

But I thought refrigerants are supposed to be sealed off within the AC’s coils. Do they really leak so much as to account for all of these emissions? Or is at least part of those emissions coming from the electricity used to run them?

@davidtitanium22 11 ай бұрын

At the end of their lifecycle, if they're not specifically destroyed the appliances will just sit around in dumps and landfills decaying and eventually leaking their refrigerants

@antronx7 11 ай бұрын

That was an example of equivalent co2 emissions if all HFCs were to be released. Most of them get captured. Even if all get released thats still only 5 years of worlds carbon emissions.

@redElim 11 ай бұрын

Thank god there is no large refrigerant lobby

@vigilantcosmicpenguin8721 11 ай бұрын

Don't jinx it.

@gregorymalchuk272 11 ай бұрын

Dupont and Honeywell?????????? Honeywell owns the patents on all the "green" hydrofluoroolefin refrigerants, and they charge outrageous prices for them.

@redElim 11 ай бұрын

@@gregorymalchuk272 Yes ofc it is monopolised. I mean that they don't have such a big leverage as fossil fuel giants who virtually control production

@bartroberts1514 11 ай бұрын

@@vigilantcosmicpenguin8721 He was being sarcastic. The large refrigerant lobby is why the Montreal Protocol took 30 years instead of three to succeed.

@bobbobby3085 11 ай бұрын

It’s great to see you live out your childhood aspirations of combating climate change your videos are very informative and great please keep it up and hopefully we’ll have dealt with climate change before the end of our lives

@CntFndAName 11 ай бұрын

Solutions like these are the way forward, they target the polluting industry instead of the consumer. The consumer will buy the product regardless, it's the manufacturers that need to adapt.

@rontogunov282 11 ай бұрын

can refrigerators be retrofitted with new refrigerants?

@AlRoderick 11 ай бұрын

Generally no. That's why it's a phase out, you have to replace old units with new units as they go out of service and make sure that when those old units are disposed of they don't just vent the refrigerant.

@gregorymalchuk272 11 ай бұрын

@@AlRoderickIt's rather a war on working people, telling them that they can't be allowed to repair their equipment.

@bartroberts1514 11 ай бұрын

@@gregorymalchuk272 WHAT UTTER BALONEY. It takes training and equipment to work on compressors to avoid explosions caused by faulty compressor tuning. That is, unless you're using a simple butane or propane minifridge system. What is your real agenda? Pro-coal?