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Refrigerants
	Fluorocarbons have been identified as being environmentally damaging. Is it all right to use fluorocarbon refrigerants in air conditioners?
	I have heard that HFCs are greenhouse gases. Why do you continue to use HFCs if they contribute to global warming?
	Is it not possible to make a refrigerant that affects neither the ozone layer nor global warming?
	Natural refrigerants sounds environmentally friendly. Can't you use one of these in your air conditioners?
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	What is Daikin's philosophy on contributing to the community?

Refrigerants

	Fluorocarbons have been identified as being environmentally damaging. Is it all right to use fluorocarbon refrigerants in air conditioners?
	There are no negative effects from fluorocarbons during air conditioner use. Many of the air conditioners currently installed in residences and other buildings use fluorocarbons as refrigerants. These fluorocarbons have no environmental impact during air conditioner use, so you don�ft need to worry about this. However, when released into the atmosphere, fluorocarbons destroy the ozone layer and contribute to global warming. Therefore, we ask users to have their air conditioners properly disposed of at a retailer or dealer so that the fluorocarbon refrigerant is not released into the atmosphere.

	I have heard that HFCs are greenhouse gases. Why do you continue to use HFCs if they contribute to global warming?
	When one considers overall stability, efficiency, and safety, we believe that HFC refrigerants are still the most appropriate type of refrigerant for most air conditioners. We have concluded that HFC refrigerants, which do not affect the ozone layer, are the most appropriate choice for the moment because they can be used without compromising the function of the refrigerant. For the time being, the most effective way to reduce the environmental burden is to continue switching to HFC refrigerants while promoting refrigerant recovery and introducing energy-efficient air conditioners. We will continue switching to HFCs, which have a low global warming impact.

	Is it not possible to make a refrigerant that affects neither the ozone layer nor global warming?
	There are two categories of candidate refrigerants that would neither affect the ozone layer nor contribute to global warming: natural refrigerants and new man-made materials. To date, however, no promising material has been discovered that is suitable for all types of air conditioners from residential models to large-scale commercial models. There are two ways we could prevent damage to the ozone layer and contribution to global warming. One way is to use natural refrigerants: substances that are naturally occurring, such as CO2 and propane. Another way is to use new man-made refrigerants. At Daikin, we continue to conduct research aimed at finding refrigerants that have the least impact on the environment. So far, we have chosen to use different refrigerants for different applications depending on the performance required; for example, CO2 refrigerant is used for hot water heating, and HFC32, a new refrigerant, is used for residential air conditioners.

	Natural refrigerants sounds environmentally friendly. Can't you use one of these in your air conditioners?
	A variety of challenging problems make it difficult to use such refrigerants in residential air-conditioners applications. Although natural refrigerants such as carbon dioxide, propane, and ammonia have a minimal direct effect on global warming, . they require improvements to their stability, efficiency, and safety in order to render them suitable for use as a refrigerant. For example, ammonia is toxic, propane is combustible, and carbon dioxide has very low efficiency as refrigerant for air-conditioner. As a result, almost all ammonia applications have been used in large industrial refrigeration installations where full safety control can be provided. Carbon dioxide is used as refrigerant for water heaters, where it provides an efficiency equivalent to that of conventional refrigerants. For more information, see Properties of Future Candidate Refrigerants.

	What is Daikin's philosophy on contributing to the community?
	Daikin strives to be a good corporate citizen with strong roots in the regions in which it does business. With a focus on contributing to art, culture, human resource development, and environmental protection, our employees take the initiative in making Daikin a valuable contributor to the community. For more information, see Contributing to the Community..

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