Yet another greenhouse gas!

I was speaking on a panel in Oxford last week and the subject of greenhouse gases other than CO2 came up with one of my fellow panelists. It seems we can add a “new” one to the list of recognised greenhouse gases, Nitrogen Trifluoride. NF3 has a global warming potential (GWP) some 17,000 times that of CO2 with an estimated atmospheric lifetime of about 700 years. Like many of these high GWP compounds, NF3 finds a home in the electronics industry. It is not a listed Kyoto gas.
Global production of NF3 has grown from some 100 tonnes in 1992 to an estimated 4000 tonnes in 2007 and is projected to reach 8000 tonnes a year by 2010. The electronics industry tells us that only a very small (~2%) of global production is released into the atmosphere and that most industrial processes result in its destruction. However, not all observers agree on such levels (claims of up to 16% released).

Nevertheless, the issue here is not NF3 itself, but the much more important need to keep a check on all the greenhouse gases. This point was really driven home for me when the Shell scenario team submitted the two Shell Scenarios, Scramble and Blueprints, to analysis by the MIT Integrated Global System Model of the Joint Program on the Science and Policy of Global Change.

Just a quick scenario synopsis first:

[..]

As we head towards Copenhagen, all eyes will be on the energy sector and CO2 emissions. NF3 and its cohorts may well miss the party, but to our long term detriment.

The Energy Collective