Honeywell Partners With Japanese Manufacturer To Further Increase Supply For New, Environmentally Preferable Automobile Refrigerant

Asahi Glass will produce HFO-1234yf for Honeywell to meet increased demand for the refrigerant

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Jan 23, 2014, 08:00 ET

MORRIS TOWNSHIP, N.J., Jan. 23, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Honeywell (NYSE: HON) announced today that it has entered into a supply agreement with Asahi Glass Company Ltd. (AGC) to increase production for HFO-1234yf, a new refrigerant for automobiles with a global warming potential (GWP) of less than 1. This GWP is 99.9 percent lower than that of the current refrigerant in use, HFC-134a, and even lower than the GWP of carbon dioxide.

AGC will manufacture HFO-1234yf in Japan, and Honeywell will market the product to customers in the U.S, Europe and Asia. Under the agreement, AGC's production is expected to begin in mid-2015.

"Honeywell's supply agreement with AGC will help us meet immediate demand for HFO-1234yf, which is steadily increasing in response to concerns about greenhouse gas emissions and the need to comply with regulations," said Ken Gayer, vice president and general manager of Honeywell Fluorine Products. "We continue to work with our customers to anticipate long-term demand, which will be met by a new high-volume manufacturing plant we will build in Geismar, Louisiana. Manufacturing locations in both the U.S. and Asia will provide automotive customers with improved supply chain reliability and security."

Last month, Honeywell announced that the company and its suppliers would invest about $300 million to increase capacity for HFO-1234yf, including building a new manufacturing plant for the refrigerant at Honeywell's existing Geismar location. The plant will use new process technology and is expected to be fully operational in 2016. The exact size of the plant will depend on supply agreements that Honeywell is putting in place with major customers.

HFO-1234yf is being implemented by automakers in part to meet the EU MAC Directive, a landmark piece of legislation that aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions of air-conditioning systems in passenger cars and light commercial vehicles. The directive requires that refrigerants in all new vehicle types sold in Europe after Jan. 1, 2013, have a global-warming potential (GWP) below 150.

GWP is a relative measure of how much heat a greenhouse gas traps in the atmosphere, with carbon dioxide setting the comparison with a GWP of 1. HFO-1234yf offers a GWP that is less than 1, giving it even less of an environmental impact than carbon dioxide. (See "Comparison of Greenhouse Impact" table below.)

All cars sold in Europe after 2017 must meet the new GWP requirement of less than 150. HFO-1234yf, with a GWP below 1, not only meets this requirement but is more than 99 percent below the new, stricter regulation.

Automakers in the U.S. are also adopting HFO-1234yf to help comply with Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) and vehicle greenhouse gas standards, which aim to improve the average fuel economy and reduce greenhouse gas emissions associated with cars and light trucks. Because HFO-1234yf has an extremely low environmental impact (a GWP of less than 1 compared with a GWP of 1,300 for the current refrigerant, HFC-134a), the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) allows automakers to receive credits for using HFO-1234yf.

Nearly half a million cars are on the road today safely using HFO-1234yf, and by the end of 2014, the number of vehicles is expected to exceed 2 million. Third-party data shows that HFO-1234yf's widespread adoption globally would have the greenhouse gas equivalent of permanently removing more than 30 million cars from the road worldwide, or about 3 percent of the total global fleet.

HFO-1234yf has the proven ability to perform as an effective automotive refrigerant in all regions of the world, and Honeywell continues to develop a global infrastructure to support its global customer base.

For more information on HFO-1234yf, please visit www.1234facts.com.

Comparison of Greenhouse Impact: HFO-1234yf vs. HFC-134a vs. CO2

Refrigerant	Atmospheric Lifetime	Global Warming Potential	Fuel Efficiency (compared with HFC-134a)
HFO-1234yf	10.5 days	Less than 1	Same
HFC-134a	13.4 years	1,300	Same
CO2	Ranges from 5 to 200 years	1	Worse (adoption of CO2 as a refrigerant in Europe alone would result in annual consumption increase of 3 billion liters of fuel at a cost of more than 4 billion Euros to European car drivers)

Honeywell Performance Materials and Technologies is a global leader in developing and manufacturing advanced materials and process technologies. These materials and technologies are used by people every day in a wide range of industries and applications, from petroleum refining to environmentally friendlier refrigerants to bullet-resistant vests. Our advanced materials are critical in the manufacture of products ranging from nylon to computer chips to pharmaceutical packaging. Process technologies developed by our UOP business form the foundation for most of the world's refiners, efficiently producing gasoline, diesel, jet fuel and petrochemicals. UOP is now pioneering technology to produce real fuels from renewable energy sources.

Honeywell (www.honeywell.com) is a Fortune 100 diversified technology and manufacturing leader, serving customers worldwide with aerospace products and services; control technologies for buildings, homes and industry; turbochargers; and performance materials. Based in Morris Township, N.J., Honeywell's shares are traded on the New York, London, and Chicago Stock Exchanges. For more news and information on Honeywell, please visit www.honeywellnow.com.

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SOURCE Honeywell