An article on NewScientist reveals an industrial chemical being used in ever larger quantities to make flat-screen televisions may be making global warming worse. The gas, nitrogen trifluoride (NF3) was developed an alternative to perfluorocarbons (PFCs) gases subject to the Kyoto protocol as a measure to cut greenhouse gas emissions and reduce Global Warming.
As a greenhouse gas NF3 is 17,000 times as potent as carbon dioxide, yet is not covered by Kyoto because it was made in tiny amounts when the protocol was agreed in 1997. The electronics industry uses NF3 mainly to flush out the by-products of chemical vapor deposition, a process which deposits thin films onto glass surfaces for liquid crystal displays (LCDs), and onto silicon wafers for semiconductors.
Michael Prather of the University of California, Irvine, calculates that NF3 has a half-life in the atmosphere of 550 years. Mr. Prather puts the first global estimate of NF3 production at about 4,000 tons this year, and double that for next year. The potential global warming effect of currently manufactured NF3 is greater than both sulphur hexafluoride and PFCs individually.
Mr. Prather agrees that switching to NF3 “probably was an improvement” for this reason, but he warns that NF3 is twice as potent as perfluorocarbons. At least one manufacturer of LCDs is concerned about the global warming effect of its NF3 emissions. Toshiba Matsushita Display Technology says it has developed a process that uses pure fluorine instead of NF3, resulting in “zero greenhouse gas emissions”.
Ralph Bach has been in IT long enough to know better and has blogged from his Bach Seat about IT, careers and anything else that catches his attention since 2005. You can follow him at LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter. Email the Bach Seat here.