Climate & Environment
Sulfur Hexafluoride (SF6)
The most potent greenhouse gas regulated — used in electrical switchgear, with a warming potency tens of thousands of times CO₂.
Definition
Sulfur hexafluoride is a synthetic gas used mainly as an insulator and arc-quenching medium in high-voltage electrical switchgear. It is the most potent greenhouse gas covered by the UNFCCC, with a 100-year global warming potential of roughly 24,300 times CO₂ and an atmospheric lifetime exceeding a thousand years. Though emitted in small quantities, leakage from electrical equipment makes it significant; the EU's 2024 F-gas Regulation bans SF6 in most new switchgear on a phased schedule as alternatives become available.
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