idw – Informationsdienst Wissenschaft
Nachrichten, Termine, Experten
Nachrichten, Termine, Experten
Using measurements and advanced computer models, an international team led by researchers from Goethe University Frankfurt has pinpointed an emission source for the climate-damaging gas sulfur hexafluoride (SF6) in southern Germany. This regional source of SF6 has not yet been taken into account in Germany's climate balance sheet.
FRANKFURT. Sulfur hexafluoride (SF6) is a chemically stable, colorless, odorless, and non-toxic gas. It is used all over the world, primarily as an insulating and protective gas in electrical switchgear within medium- and high-voltage engineering. In the past, it was also used in Germany as a filling gas for sports shoes and as an insulating gas in soundproof windows until this application was banned in 2006.
SF6 is the most potent greenhouse gas known to date: One kilogram of it contributes as much to global warming as about 24 tons of carbon dioxide (CO2). Due to its extreme climate impact, the United Nations requires all its member states to regularly report their SF6 emissions. To date, Germany’s greenhouse gas emissions inventory assumed that the majority of SF6 emissions today stem from the disposal of old soundproof windows, during which the gas escapes into the atmosphere.
Researchers at Goethe University Frankfurt, in collaboration with European partners, have now demonstrated for the first time that actual emissions from a source in southwestern Germany are likely to be significantly higher than previously estimated. The team led by Professor Andreas Engel from Goethe University’s Institute for Atmosphere and Environment has been operating the measurement station at the Taunus Observatory for several years. Since 2023, the observatory has been part of the international measurement network AGAGE (Advanced Global Atmospheric Gas Experiment). “Of all the European measurement stations in the network, we record the highest SF6 concentrations at the Taunus Observatory,” Engel reports. “We found this puzzling – especially because the highest values occur during southern airflow.” As part of a study initiated and funded by the German Environment Agency to verify the emissions profile using new data and methods, the phenomenon has now been investigated in greater detail.
Researchers subsequently found even higher concentrations in air samples from the ICOS network (Integrated Carbon Observation System) in Karlsruhe. Using atmospheric transport models and a method known as inverse modeling, they were able to apply this top-down approach to spatially pinpoint the emissions. The results showed that the highest emissions come from the Heilbronn region in southwestern Germany, amounting to approximately 30 tons per year or about one-third of Germany’s total SF6 emissions. However, the scientists emphasize that these amounts are relatively small compared to global SF6 emissions of around 8,000 tons, of which China alone contributes some 5,000 tons annually.
“This kind of regional distribution of emissions does not align with previous assumptions that emissions primarily stem from the disposal of old soundproof windows,” explains Katharina Meixner, lead author of the study published in the journal ACS Environmental Science & Technology – Air. “What stands out, however, is that this region is home to the only SF6 production and recycling facility in Europe that we are aware of.” Meixner emphasizes that “only by understanding where emissions in Germany originate can they be properly accounted for and effectively addressed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.” Andreas Engel explains: “Previous scientific studies have already shown that emissions during the production, use, and recycling of highly volatile substances are often harder to avoid and therefore higher than previously assumed.”
Through its research, the Frankfurt-based group contributes to validating and complementing bottom-up assessments of emissions, which have so far been primarily based on theoretical assumptions, with top-down emission estimates derived from atmospheric measurements. In addition to SF6, the research group also measures many other halogenated greenhouse gases and ozone-depleting substances.
Professor Andreas Engel
Institute for Atmosphere and Environment
Goethe University Frankfurt
an.engel@iau.uni-frankfurt.de
Tel: +49 (0)69 798-40259
an.engel@iau.uni-frankfurt.de
https://www.goethe-university-frankfurt.de/171477419/Apl__Prof__Dr__Andreas_Enge...
Katharina Meixner, Thomas Wagenhäuser, Tanja J. Schuck, Sascha Alber, Alistair J. Manning, Alison L. Redington, Kieran M. Stanley, Simon O’Doherty, Dickon Young, Joseph Pitt, Angelina Wenger, Arnoud Frumau, Ann R. Stavert, Christopher Rennick, Martin K. Vollmer, Michela Maione, Jgor Arduini, Chris R. Lunder, Cedric Couret, Armin Jordan, Xochilt Gutiérrez Gutiérrez, Dagmar Kubistin, Jennifer Müller-Williams, Matthias Lindauer, Martin Vojta, Andreas Stohl, Andreas Engel: Characterisation of German SF6 emissions. ACS Environmental Science & Technology – Air (2025) https://doi.org/10.1021/acsestair.5c00234
Measurements of the greenhouse gas SF6 at the Taunus Observatory run by Goethe University Frankfurt ...
Source: Markus Bernards
Copyright: Goethe University Frankfurt
Criteria of this press release:
Journalists, Scientists and scholars, all interested persons
Chemistry, Environment / ecology, Oceanology / climate, Physics / astronomy
transregional, national
Research results, Scientific Publications
English
Measurements of the greenhouse gas SF6 at the Taunus Observatory run by Goethe University Frankfurt ...
Source: Markus Bernards
Copyright: Goethe University Frankfurt
You can combine search terms with and, or and/or not, e.g. Philo not logy.
You can use brackets to separate combinations from each other, e.g. (Philo not logy) or (Psycho and logy).
Coherent groups of words will be located as complete phrases if you put them into quotation marks, e.g. “Federal Republic of Germany”.
You can also use the advanced search without entering search terms. It will then follow the criteria you have selected (e.g. country or subject area).
If you have not selected any criteria in a given category, the entire category will be searched (e.g. all subject areas or all countries).
