# How much gas does the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) assume is lost when hydrofluorocarbon (HFC) refrigerant is moved between cylinders and the heel is left in the container?

Canonical: https://senseible.earth/answers/refrigerant-cylinder-handling-losses-ipcc-container-factor

The IPCC estimates HFC container management losses at 2 to 10 percent of the national HFC refrigerant market, covering transfers from bulk containers to small cylinders and the heel left in each container. Equation 7.11 multiplies the HFC supplied to that market by the percentage. It is a market-wide figure, and a refiller's own weighing beats it.

## The factor

Volume 3 Chapter 7, Equation 7.11: emissions from HFC containers = HFC market for new equipment and servicing x c / 100, where c is the emission factor of HFC container management of the current refrigerant market, in percent. The Guidelines say "The emissions related to the complete refrigerant management of containers are estimated between 2 and 10 percent of the refrigerant market." Both equations are written for HFC refrigerants in the national market, so the 2 to 10 percent is a market-wide figure and applying it to one refiller is our reading.

## What it covers

Transfers from bulk containers, typically 40 tonnes, down to small capacities from 0.5 kilograms (disposable cans) to 1 tonne (containers), plus the refrigerant "heels (vapour and /or liquid)" left in the various containers, "which are recovered or emitted". Equation 7.12 separately covers loss while connecting a container to new equipment.

## If you decant gas yourself

The percentage is a market-wide estimate, so for a refiller the better figure is a weighing record: gas received, minus gas delivered in cylinders and as equipment charge, minus the change in stock, with heels you recover counted as stock. Weigh each cylinder before and after. The whole method of the Guidelines is built on tracking gas flows, so use the 2 to 10 percent only as a screening range. This is our reading.

## Where it sits

Losses at your own premises while decanting are a direct fugitive release of the gas, so Scope 1 on our reading. Gas you sell in cylinders leaves your boundary. The IPCC counts by sector and does not use Scopes.

## A refiller handling 5,000 kilograms of refrigerant in a year

- Screening range: 5,000 x 0.02 = 100 kilograms to 5,000 x 0.10 = 500 kilograms
- Weighing record shows 5,000 received, 4,930 delivered, 20 in stock more than last year: 5,000 minus 4,930 minus 20 = 50 kilograms lost
- The measured 50 kilograms is 1 percent of the gas handled, below the screening range, so record the weighing method beside it

The quantities are examples. Multiply kilograms by the gas's global warming potential in your chosen report for carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e).

## What Senseible does here

Senseible reads fuel invoices and electricity bills into dated records. It does not read cylinder weighing sheets, so keep the gas-in and gas-out record yourself and add the loss to your inventory.

- [Refrigerant gas codes and invoices](https://senseible.earth/answers/hsn-codes-for-refrigerant-gases)
- [Turning a refrigerant top-up invoice into emissions](https://senseible.earth/answers/refrigerant-top-up-invoice-to-co2e)
- [Free calculators](https://senseible.earth/calculators)

Sources: [IPCC 2006 Guidelines, Volume 3 Chapter 7 (Section 7.5.2.1, Equations 7.11 and 7.12)](https://www.ipcc-nggip.iges.or.jp/public/2006gl/pdf/3_Volume3/V3_7_Ch7_ODS_Substitutes.pdf)

Last reviewed 2026-11-05. The 2 to 10 percent is the Guidelines' market-wide estimate; measured losses should replace it.