Stratospheric Ozone Layer
Depletion
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Page 12
Alternatives
An
important step forward in the struggle to remove CFCs from the atmosphere was
fought on the economic front. Just as the economic attractiveness of CFCs made
them spread so quickly through industry, consumer concerns and eventual disuse
of the product helped remove them from many areas. In 1990, Du Pont
Chemical company, the largest producer of CFCs, agreed to a two-phase removal
plan in which substitutes would be developed and then slowly phased into the
existing industrial system. This corporate backing of the CFC removal program
helped immeasurably. Many other companies worked to reduce the use and release
of CFCs in their industrial and corporate facilities around the world. Also,
many entrepreneurs have used the idea of ozone-safe products to further their
business and increase profits. As consumers became aware of the problems and
understood what they could do to help, business and industry has worked harder
to solve the problem and find a better way of conducting their operations.
Du Pont's answer to the problem of CFCs was to
develop less chlorinated fluorocarbons that would impact the ozone layer less
severely. They began by introducing hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs). These
were CFCs with chlorine partially replaced by hydrogen molecules. As an interim
measure these chemicals proved very useful. They began the phase-out of CFCs
without too great a capital cost to industry and without causing too great of
an inconvenience to consumers. HCFCs were not as damaging to the stratospheric
ozone layer but were not completely safe. Tests showed that they could still
break down and deplete the precious ozone. As a more permanent replacement, Du Pont
announced that it had developed a line of hydroflurocarbons (HFCs) that
contained no chlorine and thus posed a greatly reduced threat to the ozone
layer.
Along with the work by Du Pont, several other alternatives
have been suggested. Cyclopentane and cyclohexane have been put forth as
replacements for coolants . Nitrogen gas can be used as a blowing agent . Many
other safe and easily obtainable alternatives exist and have been used
successfully for years. CFCs in aerosol cans have been replaced with air
pressure or other propellants. With a little effort, it seems that CFCs have
been replaced without a tremendous furor as was expected when the idea of their
replacement first came to the table for discussion.
Though the strides made by Du Pont and the
other scientists working to provide alternatives to CFCs are significantly
reducing the quantity of CFCs being released, more can be done. Companies have
seen that reducing the use of CFCs is an effective way of stopping their
release without waiting for replacements. AT&T, for example has worked to
prevent the release of CFCs by auditing their facilities and finding ways to
cut back on their consumption of the chemicals. Other companies have found that
manufacturing CFC-free products has become very lucrative. Whirlpool has
recently opened a plant to manufacture CFC-free refrigerators in India. Other
companies have begun selling environmentally safe products to consumers. In
1995, Walmart opened the first entirely environmentally safe shopping area in
the world. These types of innovations and forethought will be necessary to stop
the depletion of the stratospheric ozone layer along with many of our other
environmental problems. Cooperation between scientists, politicians, economist
and many others will be vital to the continued success of the world as a whole.
Global problems must have global solutions reached through global consensus and
understanding.
