York researcher contributes to COP26 network briefing

Dr Michalopoulou makes the case for addressing the use of Fluorinated-gases (F-gases) in industry, most commonly used in the refrigeration, cooling and smelting industries.

She says: "To help meet our net-zero goals we need to promote and enhance legislation to reduce the use of fluorinated gases. These gases are used in refrigerants, aerosols and solvents, and are tens of thousands of times more potent than CO₂. Due to their damaging impact on the climate and their very long atmospheric lifetimes, F-gases should be restricted to very limited use."

The briefing sets out net-zero solutions the UK can implement now, along with the research priorities for the next decade to reach net-zero emissions. It brings together diverse expertise from 26 authors across ten UK universities, and comes at a critical time ahead of the United Nations COP26 Climate Change Summit, which takes place in Glasgow in November.

Net-zero solutions are addressed in the briefing across eight priority sectors, summarising the current state of knowledge, and then setting out the actions to take now, what to research, and the co-benefits arising from solutions in that sector. The eight priority sectors are:

• Electricity generation, storage, system and networks
• Buildings
• Road Transport
• Industry
• Land/Sea Use and Agriculture
• Aviation and Shipping
• Waste
• Greenhouse Gas Removal

Nature-based Solutions (NbS) are highlighted separately as key actions that can work with nature to address climate change and biodiversity loss across all sectors, whilst also supporting economic recovery.

Other benefits in addressing F-gases include a reduction in emissions from the shipping and transport industry, and new cooling approaches can improve air quality energy efficiency and decarbonise the energy supply.

Read the full briefing