CFCs have been phased out by this August, 17 months ahead of schedule, informed the Minister of State for Environment and Forests, Mr. Namo Narain Meena. Addressing a gathering celebrating the 14th International Day for the Preservation of the Ozone Layer, he termed this as creditable achievement considering the challenges of meeting the residual requirements of CFCs within India. The most important and critical target of 85 per cent reduction of carbon tetrachloride production and consumption has also been achieved, while halons have been phased out in 2003. The 19th Meeting of the Parties to the Montreal Protocol took a historic decision to advance the phase-out of HCFCs from 2040 to 2030.

Source: www.pib.nic.in

A special programme to celebrate the International Day for the Preservation of Ozone Layer was held by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and Pune Zilla Parishad Secondary School Section. An educational tool for creating awareness about ozone depletion and climate change among students was launched on this occasion.

The educational tool from UNEP for primary school students consists of a story in which a character named Ozzy tells the story of ozone depletion and climate change. It has already been translated into Marathi, Hindi, Urdu and Bengali. The idea is to make subjects such as ozone depletion and climate change understandable for school children. The tool is available in the form of books and CDs.

Source: www.expressindia.com

Carrier Air-conditioning and Refrigeration Limited has bagged the contract to install the heating, ventilation and air-conditioning (HVAC) system at Delhi International Airport’s upcoming Terminal 3, a company release said. Carrier will provide eight Evergreen 19XRD centrifugal chillers of 2,500 tonnes of refrigeration (TR) each for this project. The dual-compressor centrifugal chiller represents cutting-edge HVAC technology, which is ideal for large airports, commercial complexes, shopping malls, factories and district cooling plants.

The Evergreen 19XRD is Carrier’s largest single-unit cooling capacity chiller employing the non-ozone depleting refrigerant HFC-134a. It features Carrier-patented technology designed to improve indoor air quality and offer environmental benefits. “Carrier will provide high-quality products that help create a comfortable and healthy environment for travellers and workers throughout this terminal,” said Mr. Zubin Irani, Managing Director, Carrier India. The Delhi International Airport expects Terminal 3 to be operational before the Commonwealth games in 2010. Terminal 3 will be approximately 5.2 million square feet in size, with an annual capacity of 34 million passengers.


Source: www.business-standard.com

On the occasion of World Ozone Day, a survey conducted by the Indian Chamber of Commerce (ICC), covering 113 industries in West Bengal, revealed that most of the industries use the harmful chemical carbon tetrachloride (CTC), a powerful ozone depleting substance used as a cleansing solvent mainly for electrical contact cleaning. ICC conducted the survey on industries located in Kolkata Metropolitan Area, Haldia and Hooghly areas. The survey revealed that 52 per cent of the respondents were still using CTC while less than 16 per cent had switched to using alternative products.

CTC is listed under the Montreal Protocol on ODS, signed by India in 1992 as an environmentally hazardous chemical. The World Ozone Day was celebrated to commemorate the signing of the Montreal Protocol, which requires its signatories to phase out chemical substances such as CTC within a stipulated time period. Among the 191 parties that have ratified the protocol, India has to phase out the harmful chemical CTC by 31 December 2009.

Source: www.expressindia.com

A historic decision was taken at the 19th Meeting of Parties (MOP) held in September, 2007 at Montreal to accelerate the phase-out of HCFCs from 2040 to 2030. The 56th Meeting of the Executive Committee (ExCom) of the Multilateral Fund (MLF) for implementation of the Montreal Protocol held in Doha, Qatar from 8th to 12th November 2008 approved US$ 573,750 for preparation of HCFC Phase-out Plan for the Stage-I (2013 Freeze and 10 per cent reduction of the baseline) in India.

The 56th Meeting of the ExCom of the MLP for implementation of the Montreal Protocol held in Doha, Qatar from 8th to 12th November 2008 approved a proposal for an amount of US$ 10.2 million for funding National Strategy for Transition to Non-CFC Metered Dose Inhalers (MDIs) and Plan for Phase-out of CFCs in the Manufacturing of Pharmaceutical MDIs in India.

The ExCom at its 56th Meeting held in November, 2008 also approved the revised agreement for accelerated phase-out of CFCs production with a funding of US$ 3.17 million which will be paid as compensation to the four CFC producers. India completely phased out the production of CFCs with effect from 1st August 2008, seventeen months ahead of Montreal Protocol schedule.

India has also phased out of use of virgin CFCs in all applications except in Metered Dose Inhalers (MDIs) manufacturing. MDIs are essential for treatment of Asthma and Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) patients.