Insight
McGavis: Refrigerant venting happens because contractor labor costs exceed reclamation value
“Today, the primary Driver for a lot of the venting is economic. It, the technician or the contractor's time is worth worth more than actually collecting the refrigerant and selling it into the reclamation market.”
Assertion Supported
McGavis: 80% of cooling equipment emissions come from energy use, 20% from refrigerants
“80% of the of the CO₂ impact from a piece of equipment is that energy efficiency or the energy that's created to run the equipment. The only, the other 20% comes from the refrigerant.”
Assertion Contradicted
McGavis: Data centers are currently the largest consumer of cooling
“Today, the biggest consumer of cooling is data centers. So as we talk about AI and all the AI applications, all that doesn't exist without a significant amount of cooling to keep those servers warm and keep those data centers operating.”
Opinion
McGavis: Montreal Protocol Is Probably the Most Effective Global Environmental Treaty
“The Montreal Protocol is probably the single most effective global treaty that's been put in place you know, through U.N. Sponsorship, and that's been the basis now for, you know, kind of next generation, the Kigali Amendment, and as you go through, you know, …”
Assertion Supported
McGavis: Refrigerants generate 1.5 to 2 gigatons of CO2e annually
“The best estimates are it's between, you know, between one and a half and two gigatons annually of CO₂e or carbon dioxide equivalents.”
Assertion Supported
McGavis: Refrigerant reclamation is an economic problem, not a technological one
“The technology exists. Nothing has to be developed to be able to successfully recover, reclaim, and refrigerants. It is more of a, frankly, it's more of an economic problem right now.”
Insight
McGavis: Flammability is the primary barrier for ultra-low GWP natural refrigerants like propane
“What I'd say is we move to these ultra low GWP refrigerants, the primary issue is flammability, and so they are slightly flammable, and so those issues have to be addressed. You know, what some of the best natural refrigerants are R two 90, which is propane, a…”
Prediction Open · timeframe Dec 2030
McGavis: Reclaimed gas will be the primary servicing source by 2030
“You know, by 2030, the source of refrigerant for service will have to come from reclaim and recovered refrigerant. That will have to be the primary source as these manufacturing quotas go down year over year.”
Assertion Supported
McGavis: Europe is shifting to natural refrigerants over PFAS concerns
“In Europe, for example they have they are moving back towards, I shouldn't say back towards, they are moving towards natural refrigerants, so, you know, propane and CO₂, because they are restricting the use of these ultra-low GWP refrigerants because of the PF…”
Assertion Partly supported
McGavis: Commercial refrigeration is the single largest refrigerant emitter
“You know, the single biggest emitter is the refrigeration sector, and that's Primarily the, what I'd call the commercial refrigeration sector. That's supermarkets, convenience stores, and that's the single largest emitter.”
Assertion Supported
McGavis: Reclaimed refrigerant is more expensive than virgin refrigerant
“The market price for reclaimed refrigerant is more expensive than it is to use virgin refrigerant.”
Assertion Partly supported
McGavis: Current residential refrigerants have 2,000 GWP, transitional substitutes reach 600-700
“The refrigerants primarily in use today, the GWP is around 2000. And, you know, I'll use R-Four-Ten-A as an example. It's what's most common in the residential market in the, in, around the world. And so, the GWP there is roughly 2000. So the replacement refri…”
Assertion Supported
McGavis: R-410A cannot be shipped in new equipment starting next year
“The first of the year R-Forten-A, which is kind of the most common refrigerant used in the commercial refrigeration residential the residential markets won't be available to ship in new equipment”
