Atmospheric abundance and global emissions of perfluorocarbons CF 4 , C 2 F 6 and C 3 F 8 since 1800 inferred from ice core, firn, air archive and in situ measurement
Perfluorocarbons (PFCs) are very potent and long-lived greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, released predominantly during aluminium production and semiconductor manufacture. They have been targeted for emission controls under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. Here we present...
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Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-11733-2016 |
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ftempa:oai:dora:empa_13288 2023-05-15T16:38:57+02:00 Atmospheric abundance and global emissions of perfluorocarbons CF 4 , C 2 F 6 and C 3 F 8 since 1800 inferred from ice core, firn, air archive and in situ measurement Trudinger, Cathy M. Fraser, Paul J. Etheridge, David M. Sturges, William T. Vollmer, Martin K. Rigby, Matt Martinerie, Patricia Mühle, Jens Worton, David R. Krummel, Paul B. Steele, L. Paul Miller, Benjamin R. Laube, Johannes Mani, Francis S. Rayner, Peter J. Harth, Christina M. Witrant, Emmanuel Blunier, Thomas Schwander, Jakob O'Doherty, Simon Battle, Mark 2016 https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-11733-2016 eng eng Copernicus Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics--Atmos. Chem. Phys.--journals:265--1680-7316--1680-7324 empa:13288 journal id: journals:265 issn: 1680-7316 e-issn: 1680-7324 ut: 000394784200001 local: 20690 scopus: 2-s2.0-84988809957 doi:10.5194/acp-16-11733-2016 Text Journal Article 2016 ftempa https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-11733-2016 2023-03-04T17:15:35Z Perfluorocarbons (PFCs) are very potent and long-lived greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, released predominantly during aluminium production and semiconductor manufacture. They have been targeted for emission controls under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. Here we present the first continuous records of the atmospheric abundance of CF 4 (PFC-14), C 2 F 6 (PFC-116) and C 3 F 8 (PFC-218) from 1800 to 2014. The records are derived from high-precision measurements of PFCs in air extracted from polar firn or ice at six sites (DE08, DE08-2, DSSW20K, EDML, NEEM and South Pole) and air archive tanks and atmospheric air sampled from both hemispheres. We take account of the age characteristics of the firn and ice core air samples and demonstrate excellent consistency between the ice core, firn and atmospheric measurements. We present an inversion for global emissions from 1900 to 2014. We also formulate the inversion to directly infer emission factors for PFC emissions due to aluminium production prior to the 1980s. We show that 19th century atmospheric levels, before significant anthropogenic influence, were stable at 34.1 ± 0.3 ppt for CF 4 and below detection limits of 0.002 and 0.01 ppt for C 2 F 6 and C 3 F 8 , respectively. We find a significant peak in CF 4 and C 2 F 6 emissions around 1940, most likely due to the high demand for aluminium during World War II, for example for construction of aircraft, but these emissions were nevertheless much lower than in recent years. The PFC emission factors for aluminium production in the early 20th century were significantly higher than today but have decreased since then due to improvements and better control of the smelting process. Mitigation efforts have led to decreases in emissions from peaks in 1980 (CF 4 ) or early-to-mid-2000s (C 2 F 6 and C 3 F 8 ) despite the continued increase in global aluminium production; however, these decreases in emissions appear to have recently halted. We see a temporary reduction of around 15 % in CF 4 emissions ... Article in Journal/Newspaper ice core South pole DORA Empa South Pole Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics 16 18 11733 11754 |
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ftempa |
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English |
description |
Perfluorocarbons (PFCs) are very potent and long-lived greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, released predominantly during aluminium production and semiconductor manufacture. They have been targeted for emission controls under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. Here we present the first continuous records of the atmospheric abundance of CF 4 (PFC-14), C 2 F 6 (PFC-116) and C 3 F 8 (PFC-218) from 1800 to 2014. The records are derived from high-precision measurements of PFCs in air extracted from polar firn or ice at six sites (DE08, DE08-2, DSSW20K, EDML, NEEM and South Pole) and air archive tanks and atmospheric air sampled from both hemispheres. We take account of the age characteristics of the firn and ice core air samples and demonstrate excellent consistency between the ice core, firn and atmospheric measurements. We present an inversion for global emissions from 1900 to 2014. We also formulate the inversion to directly infer emission factors for PFC emissions due to aluminium production prior to the 1980s. We show that 19th century atmospheric levels, before significant anthropogenic influence, were stable at 34.1 ± 0.3 ppt for CF 4 and below detection limits of 0.002 and 0.01 ppt for C 2 F 6 and C 3 F 8 , respectively. We find a significant peak in CF 4 and C 2 F 6 emissions around 1940, most likely due to the high demand for aluminium during World War II, for example for construction of aircraft, but these emissions were nevertheless much lower than in recent years. The PFC emission factors for aluminium production in the early 20th century were significantly higher than today but have decreased since then due to improvements and better control of the smelting process. Mitigation efforts have led to decreases in emissions from peaks in 1980 (CF 4 ) or early-to-mid-2000s (C 2 F 6 and C 3 F 8 ) despite the continued increase in global aluminium production; however, these decreases in emissions appear to have recently halted. We see a temporary reduction of around 15 % in CF 4 emissions ... |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Trudinger, Cathy M. Fraser, Paul J. Etheridge, David M. Sturges, William T. Vollmer, Martin K. Rigby, Matt Martinerie, Patricia Mühle, Jens Worton, David R. Krummel, Paul B. Steele, L. Paul Miller, Benjamin R. Laube, Johannes Mani, Francis S. Rayner, Peter J. Harth, Christina M. Witrant, Emmanuel Blunier, Thomas Schwander, Jakob O'Doherty, Simon Battle, Mark |
spellingShingle |
Trudinger, Cathy M. Fraser, Paul J. Etheridge, David M. Sturges, William T. Vollmer, Martin K. Rigby, Matt Martinerie, Patricia Mühle, Jens Worton, David R. Krummel, Paul B. Steele, L. Paul Miller, Benjamin R. Laube, Johannes Mani, Francis S. Rayner, Peter J. Harth, Christina M. Witrant, Emmanuel Blunier, Thomas Schwander, Jakob O'Doherty, Simon Battle, Mark Atmospheric abundance and global emissions of perfluorocarbons CF 4 , C 2 F 6 and C 3 F 8 since 1800 inferred from ice core, firn, air archive and in situ measurement |
author_facet |
Trudinger, Cathy M. Fraser, Paul J. Etheridge, David M. Sturges, William T. Vollmer, Martin K. Rigby, Matt Martinerie, Patricia Mühle, Jens Worton, David R. Krummel, Paul B. Steele, L. Paul Miller, Benjamin R. Laube, Johannes Mani, Francis S. Rayner, Peter J. Harth, Christina M. Witrant, Emmanuel Blunier, Thomas Schwander, Jakob O'Doherty, Simon Battle, Mark |
author_sort |
Trudinger, Cathy M. |
title |
Atmospheric abundance and global emissions of perfluorocarbons CF 4 , C 2 F 6 and C 3 F 8 since 1800 inferred from ice core, firn, air archive and in situ measurement |
title_short |
Atmospheric abundance and global emissions of perfluorocarbons CF 4 , C 2 F 6 and C 3 F 8 since 1800 inferred from ice core, firn, air archive and in situ measurement |
title_full |
Atmospheric abundance and global emissions of perfluorocarbons CF 4 , C 2 F 6 and C 3 F 8 since 1800 inferred from ice core, firn, air archive and in situ measurement |
title_fullStr |
Atmospheric abundance and global emissions of perfluorocarbons CF 4 , C 2 F 6 and C 3 F 8 since 1800 inferred from ice core, firn, air archive and in situ measurement |
title_full_unstemmed |
Atmospheric abundance and global emissions of perfluorocarbons CF 4 , C 2 F 6 and C 3 F 8 since 1800 inferred from ice core, firn, air archive and in situ measurement |
title_sort |
atmospheric abundance and global emissions of perfluorocarbons cf 4 , c 2 f 6 and c 3 f 8 since 1800 inferred from ice core, firn, air archive and in situ measurement |
publisher |
Copernicus |
publishDate |
2016 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-11733-2016 |
geographic |
South Pole |
geographic_facet |
South Pole |
genre |
ice core South pole |
genre_facet |
ice core South pole |
op_relation |
Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics--Atmos. Chem. Phys.--journals:265--1680-7316--1680-7324 empa:13288 journal id: journals:265 issn: 1680-7316 e-issn: 1680-7324 ut: 000394784200001 local: 20690 scopus: 2-s2.0-84988809957 doi:10.5194/acp-16-11733-2016 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-11733-2016 |
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Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics |
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16 |
container_issue |
18 |
container_start_page |
11733 |
op_container_end_page |
11754 |
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1766029312407896064 |