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Refrigeration chemicals are a nightmare for the climate. Experts say alternatives must spread fast
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Harvard graduate student Faith Chen, of Wilmette, Ill., left, places a sample of cobalt-based hybrid material in a calorimeter, a device that measures temperature changes, as Jarad Mason, assistant professor of chemistry and chemical biology at Harvard University, of Watertown, Mass., right, looks on, Thursday, Sept. 14, 2023, in a lab on the school's campus, in Cambridge, Mass. The experiment is part of research to develop a more environmentally-friendly solid refrigerant that could be used as an alternative to existing volatile refrigerants. - photo by AP Photo/Steven Senne
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — When Jennifer Byrne, owner and technician at Comfy Heating and Cooling, gets a call to come and fix a relatively new air conditioning system, one of the first questions she asks is if the house has just been remodeled. Here in West Philadelphia, Byrne has found shoddy renovations where installers skip steps such as pressure testing after installation. That can result in ice buildup and leaks of the chemicals that cool, called refrigerants.