India catching up fast
SCIENTISTS at Hyderabad's Indian Institute of Chemical Technology (IICT) recently announced they can now produce in the laboratory HFC-134a, a hydrofluorocarbon that is seen as the best substitute for CFCs, especially in USA and Japan.
With access to the multilateral fund set up under the Montreal Protocol, IICT scientists plan to scale up their production facilities to a pilot plant with the capacity to produce 5 kg of HFC-134a per hour. IICT director A V Rama Rao expects commercial production to begin by 1996.But it is doubtful whether the fund will support IICT in its efforts.
HFC-134a is produced only by a handful of manufacturers -- megacorporations DuPont, ICI, Hoechst and Showa Denka -- and its manufacture is covered by patents abroad.
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