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Nitrogen trifluoride global emissions estimated from updated atmospheric measurements

Arnold, Tim LU orcid ; Harth, Christina M. ; Mühle, Jens ; Manning, Alistair J. ; Salameh, Peter K. ; Kim, Jooil ; Ivy, Diane J. ; Steele, L. Paul ; Petrenko, Vasilii V. and Severinghaus, Jeffrey P. , et al. (2013) In Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 110(6). p.2029-2034
Abstract

Nitrogen trifluoride (NF3) has potential to make a growing contribution to the Earth's radiative budget; however, our understanding of its atmospheric burden and emission rates has been limited. Based on a revision of our previous calibration and using an expanded set of atmospheric measurements together with an atmospheric model and inverse method, we estimate that the global emissions of NF3 in 2011 were 1.18 ± 0.21 Gg·y-1, or ~20 Tg CO2- eq·y-1 (carbon dioxide equivalent emissions based on a 100-y global warming potential of 16,600 for NF3). The 2011 global mean tropospheric dry air mole fraction was 0.86 ± 0.04 parts per trillion, resulting from an average emissions... (More)

Nitrogen trifluoride (NF3) has potential to make a growing contribution to the Earth's radiative budget; however, our understanding of its atmospheric burden and emission rates has been limited. Based on a revision of our previous calibration and using an expanded set of atmospheric measurements together with an atmospheric model and inverse method, we estimate that the global emissions of NF3 in 2011 were 1.18 ± 0.21 Gg·y-1, or ~20 Tg CO2- eq·y-1 (carbon dioxide equivalent emissions based on a 100-y global warming potential of 16,600 for NF3). The 2011 global mean tropospheric dry air mole fraction was 0.86 ± 0.04 parts per trillion, resulting from an average emissions growth rate of 0.09 Gg·y-2 over the prior decade. In terms of CO2 equivalents, current NF3 emissions represent between 17% and 36% of the emissions of other long-lived fluorinated compounds from electronics manufacture. We also estimate that the emissions benefit of using NF3 over hexafluoroethane (C2F6) in electronics manufacture is significant-emissions of between 53 and 220 Tg CO2-eq·y-1 were avoided during 2011. Despite these savings, total NF3 emissions, currently ~10% of production, are still significantly larger than expected assuming global implementation of ideal industrial practices. As such, there is a continuing need for improvements in NF3 emissions reduction strategies to keep pace with its increasing use and to slow its rising contribution to anthropogenic climate forcing.

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publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
keywords
Atmospheric composition, Climate change, Radiative forcing
in
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
volume
110
issue
6
pages
6 pages
publisher
National Academy of Sciences
external identifiers
  • scopus:84873432743
ISSN
0027-8424
DOI
10.1073/pnas.1212346110
language
English
LU publication?
no
id
d122a8d4-6796-417c-8975-1ee7d0d9d15d
date added to LUP
2024-10-24 18:30:39
date last changed
2025-04-25 15:56:05
@article{d122a8d4-6796-417c-8975-1ee7d0d9d15d,
  abstract     = {{<p>Nitrogen trifluoride (NF<sub>3</sub>) has potential to make a growing contribution to the Earth's radiative budget; however, our understanding of its atmospheric burden and emission rates has been limited. Based on a revision of our previous calibration and using an expanded set of atmospheric measurements together with an atmospheric model and inverse method, we estimate that the global emissions of NF<sub>3</sub> in 2011 were 1.18 ± 0.21 Gg·y<sup>-1</sup>, or ~20 Tg CO<sub>2-</sub> eq·y<sup>-1</sup> (carbon dioxide equivalent emissions based on a 100-y global warming potential of 16,600 for NF<sub>3</sub>). The 2011 global mean tropospheric dry air mole fraction was 0.86 ± 0.04 parts per trillion, resulting from an average emissions growth rate of 0.09 Gg·y<sup>-2</sup> over the prior decade. In terms of CO<sub>2</sub> equivalents, current NF<sub>3</sub> emissions represent between 17% and 36% of the emissions of other long-lived fluorinated compounds from electronics manufacture. We also estimate that the emissions benefit of using NF<sub>3</sub> over hexafluoroethane (C<sub>2</sub>F<sub>6</sub>) in electronics manufacture is significant-emissions of between 53 and 220 Tg CO<sub>2</sub>-eq·y<sup>-1</sup> were avoided during 2011. Despite these savings, total NF<sub>3</sub> emissions, currently ~10% of production, are still significantly larger than expected assuming global implementation of ideal industrial practices. As such, there is a continuing need for improvements in NF<sub>3</sub> emissions reduction strategies to keep pace with its increasing use and to slow its rising contribution to anthropogenic climate forcing.</p>}},
  author       = {{Arnold, Tim and Harth, Christina M. and Mühle, Jens and Manning, Alistair J. and Salameh, Peter K. and Kim, Jooil and Ivy, Diane J. and Steele, L. Paul and Petrenko, Vasilii V. and Severinghaus, Jeffrey P. and Baggenstos, Daniel and Weissa, Ray F.}},
  issn         = {{0027-8424}},
  keywords     = {{Atmospheric composition; Climate change; Radiative forcing}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  month        = {{02}},
  number       = {{6}},
  pages        = {{2029--2034}},
  publisher    = {{National Academy of Sciences}},
  series       = {{Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America}},
  title        = {{Nitrogen trifluoride global emissions estimated from updated atmospheric measurements}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1212346110}},
  doi          = {{10.1073/pnas.1212346110}},
  volume       = {{110}},
  year         = {{2013}},
}