1/17/23, 8:50 AM Calculate the carbon dioxide equivalent quantity of an F gas - GOV.

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Guidance
Calculate the carbon dioxide equivalent
quantity of an F gas
Find out how to express the mass of a fluorinated greenhouse gas
(F gas) in terms of CO2 so that you comply with regulations on F
gases.

From:
Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs
(/government/organisations/department-for-environment-food-rural-affairs) and
Environment Agency (/government/organisations/environment-agency)
Published
31 December 2014

Carbon dioxide (CO2) equivalent is a measure of how much a gas contributes to

global warming, relative to carbon dioxide.
You calculate the carbon dioxide equivalent of a quantity of F gas by multiplying the
mass of the gas (in tonnes), by the gas’ global warming potential (GWP).
You’ll usually find the mass of an F gas expressed in kilograms (kg) on product labels.
To convert the mass to tonnes, divide by 1,000.
See global warming potentials for F gases in the table of F gases
(https://www.gov.uk/guidance/fluorinated-gases-f-gases).

Example calculation

The amount in tonnes of CO2 equivalent is the mass (in tonnes) of F gas
multiplied by the GWP of that F gas.

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For example the global warming potential of HFC 404A is 3,922. Therefore the tonnes
CO2 equivalent of 10kg of HFC 404a is calculated as follows:

1. Mass (in tonnes) of F gas multiplied by GWP of F gas

2. = (10/1,000) * 3,922
3. = 39.2 tonnes CO2 equivalent

Table of CO2 equivalent thresholds for common F gases

For some common F gases, this table lists:
global warming potentials
the quantities that are equivalent to CO2 size thresholds

F gas global mass, in mass, in kg, mass, in kg, mass, in kg,

warming kg, equal to equal to 40 equal to 50 equal to 500
potential 5 tonnes tonnes CO2 tonnes CO2 tonnes CO2
CO2

SF6 22,800 0.2 1.8 2.2 22

HFC 23 14,800 0.3 2.7 3.4 34

HFC 13,396 0.4 3.0 3.7 37

508B

HFC 4,470 1.1 8.9 11.2 112

143a

HFC 3,985 1.3 10.0 12.5 125

507A

HFC 3,922 1.3 10.2 12.7 127

404A

HFC 3,607 1.4 11.1 13.8 139

428A

HFC 3,500 1.4 11.4 14.3 143

125

HFC 3,245 1.5 12.3 15.4 154

434A

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F gas global mass, in mass, in kg, mass, in kg, mass, in kg,

warming kg, equal to equal to 40 equal to 50 equal to 500
potential 5 tonnes tonnes CO2 tonnes CO2 tonnes CO2
CO2

HFC 3,220 1.6 12.4 15.5 155

227ea

HFC 3,143 1.6 12.7 15.9 159

422A

HFC 2,729 1.8 14.7 18.3 183

422D

HFC 2,346 2.1 17.1 21.3 213

417A

HFC 2,280 2.2 17.5 21.9 219

423A

HFC 2,264 2.2 17.7 22.1 221

438A

HFC 2,138 2.3 18.7 23.4 234

427A

HFC 2,107 2.4 19.0 23.7 237

407A

HFC 2,088 2.4 19.2 23.9 239

410A

HFC 1,888 2.6 21.2 26.5 265

442A

HFC 1,825 2.7 21.9 27.4 274

407F

HFC 1,805 2.8 22.2 27.7 277

437A

HFC 1,774 2.8 22.5 28.2 282

407C

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F gas global mass, in mass, in kg, mass, in kg, mass, in kg,

warming kg, equal to equal to 40 equal to 50 equal to 500
potential 5 tonnes tonnes CO2 tonnes CO2 tonnes CO2
CO2

HFC 1,508 3.3 26.5 33.2 332

426A

HFC 1,430 3.5 28.0 35.0 350

134a

HFC 1,030 4.9 38.8 48.5 485

245fa

HFC 794 6.3 50.4 63.0 630

365mfc

HFC 32 675 7.4 74.1 74.1 741

HFC 124 40.3 322.6 403.2 4,032

152a
Published 31 December 2014

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