Ozone Layer Protection
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VATIS UPDATE OzOzoneone LaLayyerer PrProtectionotection Vol. 4 No. 118 z May - Jun 2013 ISSN 0971-5657 Apprise yourself with the latest technological innovations Highlights z Sunlit snow triggers atmospheric cleaning z Successful trials of new low-GWP refrigerant z Methyl soyate: an eco-friendly solvent z CFC-free, stable inhalation formulation z Low-GWP liquid blowing agent for foam insulation z Pressurized disinfestation with carbon dioxide Ozone Cell VATIS UPDATE: Ozone Layer Protection May-Jun 2013 1 Asian and Pacific Centre for Ministry of Environment and Forests Transfer of Technology (APCTT) Government of India The Asian and Pacific Centre for Transfer of Technology (APCTT), a subsidiary body of ESCAP, was established on 16 July 1977 with the objectives: to assist the members and associate members of ESCAP through strengthening their capabilities to develop and manage national innovation systems; develop, transfer, adapt and apply technology; improve the terms of transfer of technology; and identify and promote the development and transfer of technologies relevant to the region. The Centre will achieve the above objectives by undertaking such functions as: Research and analysis of trends, conditions and opportunities; Advisory services; Dissemination of information and good practices; Networking and partnership with international organizations and key stakeholders; and Training of national personnel, particularly national scientists and policy analysts. The shaded areas of the map indicate ESCAP members and associate members Cover Photo A scientist conducts a snow-chamber experiment in Alaska (see page 5 for details). (Credit: Dr. Paul Shepson, Purdue University, the United States) 2 VATIS UPDATE: Ozone Layer Protection May-Jun 2013 VATIS* Update Ozone Layer Protection is published 6 times a year to keep the CONTENTS readers up to date of most of the relevant and latest technological Vol. 4 No. 118 May - Jun 2013 developments and events in the field of Ozone Layer Protection. The Update is tailored to policy-makers, industries and THE SCIENCE OF OZONE LAYER 4 technology transfer intermediaries. NASA’s SAGE III to monitor the Ozone Layer Revised SCAR report Website: http://www.techmonitor.net highlights ozone depletion Sunlit snow triggers atmospheric cleaning Interannual variability of stratospheric ozone (1995-2011) Editorial Board ODS PHASE-OUT IN INDIA 6 APCTT Policy changes on import of certain ODS items Conversion of AC Mr. Michael Williamson production to hydrocarbon technology Mr. Nanjundappa Srinivasan Dr. Satyabrata Sahu Dr. Krishnan Srinivasaraghavan IN THE NEWS 7 Ozone Cell, MoEF UNIDO introduces natural refrigerant projects United Nations to help Mr. Ravi Shankar Prasad China end ODS production Scientist who helped find ozone hole dies Dr. A. Duraisamy Refrigerant market to be worth US$15.7 billion by 2018 Partnerships Prof. R.S. Agarwal for elimination of HCFCs in Asia-Pacific Philippines revises code for Prof. S.K. Mukherjee RAC industries Japan moves to phase-down HFCs Meeting in Mr. Fahad Naim Indonesia discusses protection for ozone layer Ms. Chanchal Sharma REFRIGERATION/AIR-CONDITIONING 10 ASIAN AND PACIFIC CENTRE Alternative cooling solution to replace HCFC equipment ‘Technically FOR TRANSFER OF TECHNOLOGY credible refrigerants’ for automobiles Low-temperature freezers with Adjoining Technology Bhawan natural refrigerants Environment-friendly thermoregulation units Qutab Institutional Area Successful trials of new low-GWP refrigerant Post Box No. 4575 New Delhi 110 016, India SOLVENTS 12 Tel: (91) (11) 3097 3700 Fax: (91) (11) 2685 6274 Methyl soyate: an eco-friendly solvent Super-heated ultrasonic E-mail: [email protected] vapour degreaser Eco-friendly solvent for flushing Super HFE Website: http://www.apctt.org electronics cleaner Eco-friendly polymer coating system Concentrated aqueous stencil cleaner Eco-friendly, industrial grade aqueous degreaser OZONE CELL Ministry of Environment and Forests AEROSOLS 14 Government of India Zone IV, East Court, 2nd Floor FDA approval for new HFA metered dose inhaler New India Habitat Centre, Lodhi Road pharmaceutical aerosol composition Transition to inhalant without a New Delhi 110 003, India propellant CFC-free, stable inhalation formulation Tel: (91) (11) 2464 2176 Fax: (91) (11) 2464 2175 FOAMS 15 Telegram: PARYAVARAN NEW DELHI E-mail: [email protected] HF-365/227 blends receive EPA SNAP approval Tensile properties Website: http://www.ozonecell.com of microcellular PLA foams Extruded foams with zero ODP Low- GWP liquid blowing agent for foam insulation The designation employed and FUMIGANTS 16 the presentation of material in the Growing berries without methyl bromide Vegetable growers work publication do not imply the with methyl bromide alternatives Pressurized disinfestation with carbon endorsement of any product, process dioxide Fumigants and fumigation methods or manufacturer by APCTT RECENT PUBLICATIONS 18 * Value Added Technology TECH EVENTS 18 Information Service VATIS UPDATE: Ozone Layer Protection May-Jun 2013 3 SCIENCE OF THE OZONE LAYER NASA’s SAGE III to will get a global picture of tropos- concentrations predicted to return pheric ozone,” says Dr. Zawodny. to pre-1980s levels year-round by monitor the Ozone the end of the 21st century. In ef- Layer Source: www.clarksvilleonline.com fect, Antarctica’s added protection from warmer temperatures thanks Revised SCAR report to those intensified westerly winds highlights ozone might dissipate should the circula- depletion tion patterns also return to pre- 1980s levels. West Antarctica remains the most The report also takes into account climatically dynamic region of the recent research that suggests that southernmost continent, which warming across parts of the Ant- continues to be largely shielded arctic Peninsula and West Antarc- This image illustrates the fragility from the effects of global warming of the Earth’s atmosphere, the thin tica is being influenced by warmer blue band fading into darkeness thanks to the persistence of the sea surface temperatures in the ozone hole. But that is likely to tropical Pacific, particularly during To keep track of the Earth’s fragile change before the end of the cen- certain months of the year. The ozone layer, the National Aero- tury, according to the most recent updated ACCE report also high- nautics and Space Administration update of Antarctic Climate Change lighted changes in the marine eco- (NASA) of the United States is all and the Environment (ACCE) re- system, such as the shift of both set to launch the most sophisti- port by the Scientific Committee on phytoplankton and bacterioplank- cated space-based ozone sensor Antarctic Research (SCAR). Dr. ton from larger to smaller species, ever: Stratospheric Aerosol and John Turner, a scientist with the which may affect food availability Gas Experiment (SAGE) III, slated British Antarctic Survey and the for grazing animals. for installation on the International Chair of the ACCE expert group Source: antarcticsun.usap.gov Space Station (ISS) in 2014. “The for SCAR, revealed in a brief video ISS is in perfect orbit for SAGE statement that the scientific com- III,” says Dr. Joe Zawodny, Project munity has reached consensus on Sunlit snow triggers Scientist for the instrument at the a number of issues, such as the atmospheric Langley Research Centre. “It will be fact that West Antarctica is con- cleaning able to monitor ozone all around tributing “significantly” to sea-level the Earth during all seasons of the rise. In particular, the retreat of Researchers at Purdue University, year.” Pine Island Glacier, an area under the United States, have discovered intense study in recent years, ac- that sunlit snow is the major source SAGE III works by using the Sun counts for about 10 per cent of of atmospheric bromine in the Arc- and the Moon as light sources. total glacial melt into the ocean. tic, the key to unique chemical re- When either one rises or sets be- actions that purge pollutants and hind the edge of the Earth, SAGE The ocean around the Antarctica destroy ozone. The new research III analyses the light that passes and regions to the north are warm- also indicates that the surface through the Earth’s atmosphere. ing. The resulting temperature dif- snow pack above Arctic sea ice Ozone and other molecules ab- ferential has intensified westerly plays a previously unappreciated sorb specific wavelengths, which winds around the Southern Ocean role in the bromine cycle and that reveal their density, temperature by 15 to 20 per cent, effectively the loss of sea ice, which has been and location. “SAGE III is, essen- shielding much of the continent occurring at an increasingly rapid tially, analysing the colours of the from the intrusion of warmer air pace in recent years, could have sunset to track ozone,” says Dr. originating in lower latitudes. The extremely disruptive effects in the Zawodny. “It sounds romantic, but updated ACCE report noted that balance of atmospheric chemistry this is hard science.” When SAGE ozone depleting substances (ODS) in high latitudes. III reaches the space station, it will in that stratosphere are decreas- measure ozone deeper into the ing by 1 per cent per year. By mid- The team’s findings suggest the atmosphere than ever done before, century, springtime ozone levels rapidly changing Arctic climate – reaching all the way down into the are expected to recover signifi- where surface temperatures are troposphere. “From ISS, SAGE III cantly, with stratospheric ozone rising three times faster than the 4 VATIS UPDATE: Ozone Layer Protection May-Jun 2013 Science of the Ozone Layer global average – could dramatical- monthly mean lidar and satellite ly change its atmospheric chem- time-series at 1 km intervals bet- istry, said Dr. Paul Shepson, who ween 20 and 45 km from January led the research team. Interac- 1995 to April 2011, a period of low tions between sunlight, ozone and volcanic aerosol loading. Explana- water vapour create an oxidizing tory variables representing the 11 agent that scrubs the atmosphere year solar cycle, the El Niño South- of most of the pollutants human ern Oscillation, the Quasi-Biennial Experiments in progress in the activity releases into it, Dr.