SINGAPORE, May 28 (Xinhua) -- Singapore will introduce new measures from July 1, 2027, to further curb greenhouse gas emissions from refrigeration and air-conditioning equipment, expanding existing regulations to cover large commercial systems and vehicle air-conditioning, the National Environment Agency said on Thursday.
The latest rules will apply to centralized commercial refrigeration systems, transport refrigeration, as well as air-conditioning in passenger cars and light goods vehicles, as part of efforts to support Singapore's climate targets for 2030 and its net-zero goal by 2050, the agency said in a statement.
The measures build on earlier standards introduced in 2022, which set Global Warming Potential (GWP) limits for household air-conditioners, refrigerators and water-cooled chillers used in large building cooling systems.
The GWP is a measure of the warming effect of a gas relative to the warming effect of an equivalent mass of carbon dioxide, usually over a 100-year time horizon.
Under the new requirements, refrigeration systems commonly used in supermarkets must use refrigerants with a GWP not exceeding 150 from July 2027. From July 2028, newly registered passenger cars and light goods vehicles will also need to comply with the same GWP limit for air-conditioning systems.
The agency added that the standards are aligned with those adopted in regions such as the European Union and Japan, where lower-emission refrigerant technologies are already in use. ■
