International. During the last United Nations Conference on Climate Change, which took place in Durban, South Africa, the decision was made to add a gas to the list of substances controlled by the Kyoto Protocol, it is nitrogen trifloride (NF3).
This gas is used to make plasma screens and certain types of solar panels, has a heating power 17,200 times greater than THAT of CO2 and its production is increasing: initially it was used for rocket fuel, but in 2008 its production was 4,000 tons. The perspective suggests that this figure will be doubled by the production of plasma screens. However, since the Kyoto Protocol does not cover countries that are large producers such as the United States, China and India, it is possible that the inclusion of this gas to the list of pollutants does not represent a great impact. Substances that are registered as controlled or banned in Kyoto are carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), nitrous oxide (N2O), hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), perfluorocarbons (PFCs) and sulfur hexafluoride (SF6). According to experts, some of these have a heating power thousands of times greater than that of CO2, although their production level is lower.
