The European Parliament's Environment Committee has voted in favour of banning the use of fluorinated gases (F-gases) in fridges and air conditioners.
The plan, which would see F-gases banned in new equipment by 2020, will need to be approved by a plenary session of the parliament and by EU countries before becoming law.
The announcement was met with a strong response from industry. For example, the Air Conditioning and Refrigeration Industry Board's (ACRIB) F-Gas Implementation Group slammed the news accusing the committee of being irresponsible.
ACRIB said the committee has set the scene for measures that will have very serious consequences that the European economy can afford.
"Our industry fully accepts that revisions are needed and has been preparing for this, however the industry is also expected to comply with many other regulatory requirements, particularly relating to energy efficiency," the group said in a statement.
"Despite claims of green lobbyists, the HFC-free alternatives are certainly not ready or remotely suitable in many crucial applications.
"Even where alternatives are or could be technically feasible there are very real and worrying issues concerning reduced energy efficiency, safety, lack of available skill sets and high costs which cannot be resolved in the timescales proposed."
The group said "those who have been making false and misleading claims" regarding the suitability of HFC alternatives have managed to influence the committee.
The European Partnership for Energy and the Environment (EPEE) said the announcement was disappointing as industry already supported an ambitious climate change law to radically reduce F-gas emissions by 64 per cent by 2030.
F-gases, used as coolants in air conditioning and in domestic, supermarket and industrial refrigeration, have a global warming potential, that is 23,000 times more than carbon dioxide.
The Environmental Investigation Agency, a group involved in climate issues, welcomed the news.
"HFC-free alternatives are ready, and this is an opportunity to put European businesses at the forefront of the ever-growing refrigeration and air-conditioning markets while scoring a crucial victory for the climate," the agency said.
