Day 011 - 12 Jul 94 - Page 76
1 amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, were you
speaking of its use as a blowing agent worldwide by
2 anybody and everybody who might use it?
A. Yes.
3
Q. You told us that pentane was a dangerous substance in that
4 it was highly or very inflammable. Is that right?
A. Yes.
5
Q. Does the same apply to HCFC-22?
6 A. It is less flammable. If it were not so, it could not
be used as drop-in replacement, because if you had a leek
7 from a refrigerator containing it the -----
8 Q. Can you repeat that?
A. One of the primary problems with the use of
9 refrigeration equipment in the presence of compounds which
are rapidly inflammable, is that if they escape the sparks
10 produced by the electric motor at the back of a
refrigerator can cause rapid ignition. In fact, such
11 problems have occurred in several university chemistry
departments when very inflammable compounds have escaped
12 but have been ignited by the sparks from refrigerators.
Therefore, since almost all refrigeration equipment leeks
13 slightly, were HCFC-22 to be, shall we say, very, very
inflammable it would not be safe to use it with a
14 refrigerator because if it escaped it would be ignited by
the sparks from the electric motor.
15
Q. A penultimate question, Professor Duxbury. You were asked
16 whether you thought that the rate of phase out for use of
CFCs and HCFCs by McDonald's was, I do not know what the
17 word would be, acceptable or admirable or what, and you
replied you thought it was, I think. Can I remind you
18 what the figures are. In 1989 McDonald's had restaurants
in 51 countries worldwide. By that date it was still
19 using CFCs in five countries and HCFCs in 22. In 1990 it
had 53 countries, four of which still used CFCs and 21 of
20 which used HCFCs. By 1991 there were 59 countries, none
of them used CFC-22; still used HCFCs. By 1992 the figure
21 for HCFCs was down to nine, and now it is down to partial
use in two. Do you wish to reflect upon your answer or
22 are you happy with the one you gave earlier?
A. I am happy with the one I gave earlier.
23
Q. Finally, if my Lord will forgive one frivolous question to
24 end the day. Suppose that fewer beef cattle were grown in
the world, do you suppose that people would have to find
25 alternative sources of food?
A. Yes, they would.
26
Q. Do you suppose one of those sources might be rice?
27 A. It is possible it might be.
28 MR. RAMPTON: Thank you, Professor Duxbury. My Lord, may he be
released?
29
MR. JUSTICE BELL: Yes. I want to pin down the question of
30 suspicion about CFC, if I can, because I am not sure how
much it helps me that someone somewhere in the world,
