Next-gen refrigerants: another environmental plight?

Few inventions have transformed the world more than mechanical refrigeration: from what we eat and drink to helping us stay cool in hot weather. It has also contributed to the development of a range of industries that require cooling for equipment, goods or their employees. Each advance in mechanical refrigeration, however, has brought with it environmental concerns relating to both energy use and, often more pressingly, environmental damage caused by refrigerants. Each new refrigerant creates new, and potentially larger crises, further down the line.

The emerging fourth generation refrigerants are already implicated in concerns over the accumulation of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) “forever chemicals” in the environment. Is it possible to break this cycle, at least in data centers?