New industrial greenhouse gas identified

Researchers have identified an industrial greenhouse gas, nitrogen triflouride (NF3), as a very potent greenhouse gas that has the potential of becoming a significant contributor to global warming. It is not one of the gases currently controlled under the UNFCCC.

Nitrogen triflouride (NF₃) is a synthetic gas that was initially used in small quantities for rocket fuel and lasers. However, the market for NF₃ use is growing rapidly, particularly for plasma applications and as a equipment cleaning agent. The authors, Michael Prathur and Juno Hsu, University of California-Irvine, note that the global warming effect over the next century of one metric ton of NF₃ is about 17,200 times that for a metric ton of CO₂. Of the greenhouse gases previously identified in the Kyoto Protocol, only SF₆ is more potent. NF₃ has a long atmospheric lifetime of about 740 years. The authors note that the high cost of NF₃ will ensure users avoid its release into the atmosphere as much as possible. However, it would be very useful to initiate atmospheric monitoring of this new greenhouse gas in a major industrial city like Houston, Texas.

Source: Prathur, M.J. and Hsu, J. 2008. NF₃, the greenhouse gas missing from Kyoto. GRL 35, L12810, doi:10.1029/2008GL034542, 2008.