The University of Coimbra (UC) announced today that it is leading a European project funded with 2.9 million euros and that aims to support the progressive elimination of fluorinated gases, one of the most climate-aggressive pollutants.
“To address this challenge, the international consortium led by the Faculty of Sciences and Technology of the University of Coimbra (FCTUC) will develop an innovative, interactive, and freely accessible digital platform designed to support policymakers, industry, and the scientific community in evaluating and selecting more sustainable alternatives.”
Dubbed “GWPathFinder”, the project is coordinated by Luís Pedro Viegas, a researcher at the Coimbra Chemistry Centre of the Department of Chemistry at FCTUC, and it benefits from 2.9 million euros of funding from the Horizon Europe programme.
“This project aims to provide the data and methodologies necessary to support informed decisions, contributing to a sustainable transition of the sectors that rely on refrigeration and air-conditioning technologies,” said Luís Pedro Viegas.
In a statement sent to the Lusa news agency, the UC explained that fluorinated gases are widely used in refrigeration systems, air conditioning and heat pumps.
“Despite their relevance to these sectors, they have a high potential for global warming, becoming one of the main environmental challenges associated with the energy transition and decarbonisation,” he noted.
The tool to be developed will function as “a true global ecological compass, using advanced scientific models to predict the environmental impact of new fluorinated gases and to simulate different decarbonisation scenarios in real time.”
“The objective is to provide robust, comparable information based on scientific evidence, enabling the accelerated adoption of solutions with lower climate impact.”
The “GWPathFinder” project is aligned with the goals of the Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol, an international agreement that establishes the phasedown of hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), one of the main groups of fluorinated gases responsible for global warming.
