Web-Resol Tudo sobre Limpeza Urbana e Resíduos Sólidos!
In the mid to late 1960s, manufacturers of refrigerators and freezers began replacing the glass-fibre insulation used on the walls and doors of their products with polyurethane plastic foam. The move not only provided consumers with a larger interior that offered the same insulation properties (i.e. 80 to 90 mm of glass insulation is replaced by 40 mm of polyurethane foam), but lifecycle analysis performed on the two types of appliances showed that it also cut down dramatically on energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions.
Canadian plastics body EPIC reports that the analysis took into consideration the amount of energy used and the greenhouse gases emitted during the production of each insulating material and the energy and greenhouse gases consumed and produced in the operation of the respectively insulated refrigerators and freezers. Comparisons were made on a 19-cubic foot refrigerator and a 15-cubic foot chest freezer – both with an estimated lifetime of 19 years.
Results from this life cycle analysis show that the refrigerator with the polyurethane foam consumed 39 per cent less total energy through its production and use than the one with the glass insulation. Total emissions compared over the operating lifetimes of the refrigerators found that the polyurethane-insulated one emitted 35 per cent fewer carbon dioxide equivalents.
On a larger scale, statistics show that the decision to use polyurethane foam instead of glass insulation in the 106 million refrigerators that were in operation in the United States in 1995 reduced greenhouse gas emissions by 34.9 million tons of carbon dioxide equivalents and provided an annual energy savings of almost 50 million kilowatt hours.
EPIC reports that the findings were similar with the comparison of freezers. The one with the polyurethane insulation was found to use 39 per cent less total energy than its counterpart and to emit 33 per cent fewer carbon dioxide equivalents of greenhouse gases. The 33.4 million current household freezers in the United States collectively save 9,619 million kilowatts of energy and 6.4 million tons of carbon dioxide equivalents – thanks to the use of polyurethane foam rather than glass-fibre insulation.
Artigos Relacionados
Check Also
Egypt reviews Red Sea waste management system – Dailynewsegypt
Egypt’s Minister of Local Development and Environment, Manal Awad, and Red Sea Governor Walid El-Barqi held an extensive meeting to review the performance of the governorate’s waste management system and discuss measures to improve environmental services and operational efficiency. The meeting, held during Awad’s visit to the Red Sea Governorate to mark World Environment Day, focused on assessing current challenges facing waste collection, sorting, recycling and disposal operations, as well as identifying priority actions to strengthen the system’s performance. Awad stressed that the government places significant importance on developing an integrated waste management system in the Red Sea Governorate, given its strategic importance as one of Egypt’s leading tourism destinations. She emphasized the need to comply with environmental and technical standards governing sanitary landfills, waste treatment facilities and environmentally sound disposal practices. During the meeting, officials reviewed the current status of waste management operations in Hurghada, including collection, transportation, sorting, recycling and final disposal activities. Discussions also covered the infrastructure upgrades required to improve system efficiency and ensure the proper operation of sanitary landfill facilities. Yasser Abdullah, head of Egypt’s Waste Management Regulatory Authority, presented updates on temporary waste collection and sorting sites and outlined measures to strengthen operational management and oversight. He highlighted the importance of improving monitoring mechanisms for waste handling activities and maximizing the recovery of recyclable materials while reducing informal and unregulated practices.