Calling it the largest climate investment in history, the Biden administration announced nearly $15 million in grants on May 28 to five university research centers for developing technologies to reclaim and destroy hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs). The grants, funded by the Inflation Reduction Act, target reducing emissions of HFCs, potent greenhouse gases used in refrigeration and air conditioning equipment.
The investment aligns with the administration's goal, under the bipartisan American Innovation and Manufacturing Act, of achieving an 85% reduction in HFC emissions below historical levels by 2036. Additionally, President Biden signed the U.S. ratification of the Kigali Amendment, an international agreement aimed at phasing down HFCs and avoiding up to 0.5°C of global warming by 2100.
The selectees for the grant program include The University of Washington, Texas A&M University, Drexel University, University of California-Riverside and the Air Conditioning, Heating and Refrigeration Technology Institute.
The awarded projects include evaluating alkaline hydrolysis to destroy HFCs (University of Washington); designing HFC separation technology and data-driven logistics to reduce reclamation time and costs (Texas A&M); developing a portable on-site HFC destruction device by integrating liquid injection incinerator and nonthermal gliding arc plasma technology (Drexel University); creating scalable catalytic technologies for cost-effective integrated HFC destruction systems (UC Riverside); and piloting a technique to chemically convert mixed HFCs into new commercial components while avoiding emissions from conventional incineration methods (Air Conditioning, Heating and Refrigeration Technology Institute).