Find out how to express the mass of a fluorinated greenhouse gas (F gas) in terms of CO2 so that you comply with regulations on F gases.
Carbon dioxide (CO2) equivalent is a measure of how much a gas contributes to global warming, relative to carbon dioxide.
You calculate the carbon dioxide equivalent of a quantity of F gas by multiplying the mass of the gas (in tonnes), by the gas’ global warming potential (GWP).
You’ll usually find the mass of an F gas expressed in kilograms (kg) on product labels. To convert the mass to tonnes, divide by 1,000.
See global warming potentials for F gases in the table of F gases.
Example calculation
The amount in tonnes of CO2 equivalent is the mass (in tonnes) of F gas multiplied by the GWP of that F gas.
For example the global warming potential of HFC 404A is 3,922. Therefore the tonnes CO2 equivalent of 10kg of HFC 404a is calculated as follows:
- Mass (in tonnes) of F gas multiplied by GWP of F gas
- = (10/1,000) * 3,922
- = 39.2 tonnes CO2 equivalent
Table of CO2 equivalent thresholds for common F gases
For some common F gases, this table lists:
- global warming potentials
- the quantities that are equivalent to CO2 size thresholds used in the EU regulation
| F gas | global warming potential | mass, in kg, equal to 5 tonnes CO2 | mass, in kg, equal to 40 tonnes CO2 | mass, in kg, equal to 50 tonnes CO2 | mass, in kg, equal to 500 tonnes CO2 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SF6 | 22,800 | 0.2 | 1.8 | 2.2 | 22 |
| HFC 23 | 14,800 | 0.3 | 2.7 | 3.4 | 34 |
| HFC 508B | 13,396 | 0.4 | 3.0 | 3.7 | 37 |
| HFC 143a | 4,470 | 1.1 | 8.9 | 11.2 | 112 |
| HFC 507A | 3,985 | 1.3 | 10.0 | 12.5 | 125 |
| HFC 404A | 3,922 | 1.3 | 10.2 | 12.7 | 127 |
| HFC 428A | 3,607 | 1.4 | 11.1 | 13.8 | 139 |
| HFC 125 | 3,500 | 1.4 | 11.4 | 14.3 | 143 |
| HFC 434A | 3,245 | 1.5 | 12.3 | 15.4 | 154 |
| HFC 227ea | 3,220 | 1.6 | 12.4 | 15.5 | 155 |
| HFC 422A | 3,143 | 1.6 | 12.7 | 15.9 | 159 |
| HFC 422D | 2,729 | 1.8 | 14.7 | 18.3 | 183 |
| HFC 417A | 2,346 | 2.1 | 17.1 | 21.3 | 213 |
| HFC 423A | 2,280 | 2.2 | 17.5 | 21.9 | 219 |
| HFC 438A | 2,264 | 2.2 | 17.7 | 22.1 | 221 |
| HFC 427A | 2,138 | 2.3 | 18.7 | 23.4 | 234 |
| HFC 407A | 2,107 | 2.4 | 19.0 | 23.7 | 237 |
| HFC 410A | 2,088 | 2.4 | 19.2 | 23.9 | 239 |
| HFC 442A | 1,888 | 2.6 | 21.2 | 26.5 | 265 |
| HFC 407F | 1,825 | 2.7 | 21.9 | 27.4 | 274 |
| HFC 437A | 1,805 | 2.8 | 22.2 | 27.7 | 277 |
| HFC 407C | 1,774 | 2.8 | 22.5 | 28.2 | 282 |
| HFC 426A | 1,508 | 3.3 | 26.5 | 33.2 | 332 |
| HFC 134a | 1,430 | 3.5 | 28.0 | 35.0 | 350 |
| HFC 245fa | 1,030 | 4.9 | 38.8 | 48.5 | 485 |
| HFC 365mfc | 794 | 6.3 | 50.4 | 63.0 | 630 |
| HFC 32 | 675 | 7.4 | 74.1 | 74.1 | 741 |
| HFC 152a | 124 | 40.3 | 322.6 | 403.2 | 4,032 |