In the theoretical world of climatologists carbon dioxide is a warming gas with a supposed logarithmic effect. But in the real world of industrial cooling manufacturers are increasingly preferring to use carbon dioxide as a refrigerant.
Surely if carbon dioxide works as a coolant in industry don’t the same principles apply on our open atmosphere? It sure does according to the 2011 ground-breaking experiments of Professor Nasif Nahle of Monterrey, Mexico. [1.]
But before we dismantle the climatism myth that carbon dioxide has a logarithmic heating impact let’s consider the proven cooling properties of this amazing trace gas. A leading industry expert, Dick Topping Director of Appliance Research (TIAX, LLC) writes: “The use of CO2 as a refrigerant dates back more than a century, but it fell out of favor in the air-conditioning and refrigeration industry with the development of chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) in the 1930s. Shortly thereafter, hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs) such as HCFC-22 were developed, and HCFC-22 eventually became the primary refrigerant for stationary air-conditioning systems. However, when concerns about the depletion of the stratospheric ozone layer emerged in the 1970s, national and international agreements were enacted to phase out CFCs and HCFCs.” [2.]
Industry Experts: CO2 is ‘Green Refrigerant’
The irony in Topping’s next section is sublime. The industry expert goes on to tell his readers that the phasing out of CFC’s is “leading many researchers and manufacturers to reconsider “natural” refrigerants such as CO2, hydrocarbons, and ammonia, because these substances have negligible direct global-warming impact and ozone-depletion potential.”
Topping then advises that because CO2 is “not subject to venting restrictions” we should “expect to see systems that accommodate the unique characteristics of CO2 as a ‘green’ refrigerant in the years ahead.” So is CO2 a warming or a cooling gas? Other industry experts agree with Topping. Linde, a world leader in the field, also calls CO2 a “High quality natural refrigerant.” [3.]
While in Japan, Sanyo developed that country’s first commercially-viable CO2 refrigerant in 2009 which they say will “greatly contribute to the prevention of global warming.” Sanyo declare that if freezers and refrigerators were switched to a “CO2 refrigeration system, the CO2 emission reduction effect would be about 50 percent.” [4.]
Even carbon-hating Wikipedia concedes that CO2 is “a natural refrigerant.” While in the nuclear industry the advanced gas-cooled reactor (AGR) and the Magnox reactor, both use carbon dioxide as the coolant. But hold on a cotton-picking minute. It turns out ordinary plain Jane air is also a natural coolant – what ever happened to the UN’s notion that “our atmosphere keeps our planet warmer than it would otherwise be”? [5.]
Wikipedia can’t seem to figure out the glaring contradiction in it’s message when, on the one hand, it declares, “The simplest, and most popular refrigerant is water.” Then almost in the next breath states “the vast majority of the greenhouse effect is due to water vapor in the air.”
So now let’s examine the myth of logarithmic heating by CO2. Many climatologists, working on a theoretical basis with computer models, have endlessly told us that CO2 has a logarithmic heating effect based on observations of light-absorbing media. But does it? Well, no. Firstly, proponents of this idea miss the fact that the Earth is observed to emit all of the radiant energy it receives.
The effect of several slabs together, then, will look like this:
Logarithmic Progression Defies Observed Reality
Siddons suggests climate scientists look again at their assumptions about logarithmic progression particularly when they use such graphs to declare, “See? IR-absorbing gases cause surface heating in just the same way. The first few parts per million have the strongest thermal impact, while higher concentrations produce an ever-diminishing effect.”
Crucially, proponents of the logarithmic progression idea miss the fact that the Earth is observed to emit all of the radiant energy it receives. As Siddons points out, “there’s no evidence of an extinction process in the first place!“
Furthermore, the logarithmic heating model relies on a false comparison, for one must assume that when a medium absorbs visible light HEATING results, hence the emission of infrared. In other words, a wavelength conversion is involved, such that what goes missing in the visible portion will be found in the infrared. But when a medium specifically absorbs infrared and EMITS infrared, where is the conversion, how is the wavelength of interest being extinguished?
Indeed, if IR-absorbing gases actually DID extinguish infrared, this could only mean that they don’t EMIT infrared, in which case they’d be HEAT SINKS for the Earth’s radiation rather than the heat sources they’re presumed to be. A greenhouse gas would thus mimic a “black hole”: infrared light would fall into it and no infrared light would escape.
In conclusion Siddons and his research colleagues at Principia Scientific International (PSI) are asking climate scientists to take on board the demonstrable physical evidence provided by the applied science of industry and the experimental evidence of Professor Nahle. Siddons sums it up aptly, “if greenhouse gases absorb but do not emit, then they can’t be regarded as radiative heating agents for anything. On the other hand, if greenhouse gases do emit what they absorb, then they can’t be said to “trap” radiation.”
When such cold, hard facts are addressed it seems ridiculous to try to fashion a pattern of back-radiated surface heating of our planet from the rules of light absorption (the so-called ‘greenhouse gas effect’). This is especially so since the very mechanism for such heating doesn’t exist and the above real world facts show CO2 is proven to operate only as a coolant.
[1.] Nahle, N. S., Determination of the Total Emissivity of a Mixture of Gases Containing 5% of Water Vapor and 0.039% of Carbon Dioxide at Overlapping Absorption Bands (2011), Scientific Research Division, Biology Cabinet Mexico.
[2.] Topping R., Carbon Dioxide Refrigerant Makes a Comeback (2004) Appliancemagazine.com (accessed online: September 24, 2012)
[3.] R744 Refrigerant Grade CO2, www.linde-gas.com (accessed online: September 24, 2012)
[4.] Sanyo Develops Japan’s First Co2 Refrigerant Direct Expansion Type Refrigeration System, www.gea-consulting.com (accessed online: September 24, 2012)
[5.] The Causes of Climate Change, United Nations, www.un.org (accessed online: September 24, 2012)