HFC-43-10mee atmospheric abundances and global emission estimates

Abstract

We report in situ atmospheric measurements of hydrofluorocarbon HFC-43-10mee (C5H2F10; 1,1,1,2,2,3,4,5,5,5- decafluoropentane) from seven observatories at various latitudes, together with measurements of archived air samples and recent Antarctic flask air samples. The global mean tropospheric abundance was 0.21 ± 0.05 ppt (parts per trillion, dry air mole fraction) in 2012, rising from 0.04 ± 0.03 ppt in 2000. We combine the measurements with a model and an inverse method to estimate rising global emissions - from 0.43 ± 0.34 Gg yr-1 in 2000 to 1.13 ± 0.31 Gg yr-1 in 2012 (∼1.9 Tg CO2-eq yr-1 based on a 100 year global warming potential of 1660). HFC-43-10mee - a cleaning solvent used in the electronics industry - is currently a minor contributor to global radiative forcing relative to total HFCs; however, our calculated emissions highlight a significant difference from the available reported figures and projected estimates. © 2014. American Geophysical Union. All Rights Reserved.