ABUJA, Nigeria (AP) – As the sun shines in Nigeria’s capital, Abuja, Ahmed Bukar turns on his home’s air conditioner to blast hot air. The charging valve on the outdoor unit is leaking out the cooling gas that runs the appliance. A technician recently helped him refill the air conditioner with gas, but did not test for possible leaks.
In Abuja and across Nigeria, air conditioners sprout from the walls as the appliance transforms from a middle-class luxury to a necessity in an increasingly hot climate. The industry is governed by regulations prohibiting the release of refrigerant gas into the air, for example by performing leak tests after fixing an appliance. Still, the release of natural gas into the atmosphere due to shoddy installations, unsafe disposal at the end of use, or adding gas without testing for leaks, even though it is illegal, is a common problem in Nigeria.
Gases called refrigerants that make cooling systems work hundreds to thousands of times the heating power of carbon dioxide are the worst of them, damaging the ozone layer. Following global agreements that promised to limit the emission of these gases into the air, such as the Montreal Protocol and the Kigali Amendments, Nigeria enacted regulations that guide the use of these gases. But enforcement is a problem, threatening Nigeria’s commitments to reduce emissions.
“Those laws, those rules, nobody enforces them,” said Abiodun Ajeigbe, manager of Samsung’s air conditioning business in West Africa. “I haven’t seen any enforcement.”
‘I wasn’t taught’
The weak regulatory system for the refrigeration industry in Nigeria is evident in the rampant lack of proper training and awareness of environmental damage caused by refrigerators among technicians, according to Ajeigbe. And it is common to see.
After uninstalling an air conditioner for a client who was moving to another neighborhood, Cyprian Braimoh, a technician in Abuja’s Karu area, casually flushed the gas from the unit into the air, preparing it to be refilled with fresh gas at the new location of the clients.
If he followed the country’s regulations, he would collect the gas into a canister, to prevent or minimize the environmental damage of the gas. Technicians like Braimoh and those who serviced Bukar’s gear are self-employed and unsupervised without testing for leaks. But they often get customers because they offer cheaper services.
“I wasn’t taught that; I just release it into the air,” said Braimoh, who originally specialized in the electrical wiring of buildings before settling on air conditioners to increase his income options. He received extensive training that did not include the necessary safety standards for handling refrigerants. And he still hasn’t done a leakproof test after installing the air conditioning at his client’s new location, which is required by the country’s cooling industry regulations.
Installations performed by well-trained technicians who follow environmental regulations can be more expensive for customers. It is often in Nigeria, where hiring the services of companies such as Daibau, which later helped Bukar fix his leaks, can lead to higher costs.
Manufacturers that offer refrigeration and air conditioning installation services directly to large commercial customers have tried to self-regulate with safety training and certification for their technicians, Ajeigbe said.
Potential greenhouse gases
According to industry professionals and public records, the most common air conditioners in Africa still use something called R-22 gas. This refrigerant is less damaging to the ozone layer compared to the older, even more harmful refrigerants known as chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs). CFCs have been largely phased out, thanks to the 1987 Montreal Protocol, which was created to protect the ozone layer, the vital shield in the atmosphere that protects against cancer-causing ultraviolet rays.
But R-22 is 1,810 times more harmful to the climate than carbon dioxide, according to the US Environmental Protection Agency. Just one pound of the refrigerant is nearly as strong as a ton of carbon dioxide, the most common greenhouse gas, but while CO2 can stay in the atmosphere for over 200 years, R-22 stays in the atmosphere for about 12 year. R-22 air conditioners also have low energy efficiency and most of the electricity they power in Africa comes from fossil fuels.
Nigeria plans to phase out the R-22 refrigerant by January 1, 2030. But with lax enforcement, it is doubtful that the phase-out target will be met, Ajeigbe said.
Newer air conditioners that use a family of gases called hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) are ozone-depleting and use less electricity. But HFCs are still potent greenhouse gases, accounting for about 2% of all human-caused warming in the atmosphere.
One HFC, R-410A, which is still a common refrigerant in Europe and the United States, has a warming potential 2,088 times that of carbon dioxide, and lasts about 30 years in the atmosphere. Running air conditioners are the next most common in Africa.
Another HFC, R-32, is 675 times more potent than CO2, lasts about five years in the atmosphere, and is more energy efficient. But it is only “a little” in the African market, Ajeigbe said.
Air conditioners that run on HFCs are more expensive, which means they are less popular than the more polluting ones, according to vendors and technicians in Abuja and Lagos.
A wider problem
It is not just Nigeria. In Ghana, the refrigeration industry also struggles to find technicians to comply with environmental standards.
According to the Environmental Protection Agency, consumers are the biggest drivers of “bad servicing practices” in the country, choosing poorly trained technicians over price and neglecting recommended standards.
In Kenya, demand for cooling systems is increasing as temperatures warm, population grows and electricity access expands. Air conditioners that run on R-22 are still very common in Kenya, but the National Environmental Management Authority told the Associated Press that there are no new imports from 2021, in line with 2020 regulations.
The regulations require technicians who handle refrigerants and refrigeration appliances to obtain a license, but that is not in place, technicians told AP, leaving room for environmentally unsafe practices.
“You just need to be well trained and start doing installations, it’s a very simple industry for those of us making a living,” said Nairobi-based technician Jeremiah Musyoka.
One refrigerant gas that is energy efficient and less harmful to the atmosphere, R-290, is slowly gaining traction as an alternative for refrigeration and air conditioning in developed markets such as the EU. Demand for efficient heat pumps is growing rapidly in the EU, but adoption in Africa remains insignificant due to cost barriers and limited awareness.
Countries like Nigeria, Ghana, and Kenya have also recognized R-290 to eventually replace HFCs, but the models that use it are not commercially available. And they have to worry about specialized training for technicians because of the high flammability of R-290.
“I am concerned that there is not enough training and that the current regulations are not enforced,” said Ajeigbe, the Samsung manager. But he said enforcing the ban on banned imports and the devices that use them would make a difference.
Anastasia Akhigbe, a senior regulatory officer at the Nigerian National Agency for Environmental Standards and Regulations, said increased awareness among appliance importers, technicians and consumers about the environmental impacts of certain refrigerants would also help.
“Enforcement is known to be a challenge, but we are moving gradually,” Akhigbe said.
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AP reporter Evelyne Musambi in Nairobi, Kenya, contributed to this report.
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