THE announcement by giant US car firm General Motors that it is to use the new refrigerant HFO1234yf in all its new cars has been welcomed by green group the Environmental Investigation Agency.

The switch from R134a to the new low GWP alternative will be made in General Motors' entire fleet of Chevrolet, Cadillac, Buick and GM models by 2013.

'GM's decision to eliminate HFCs heralds the beginning of the end for an entire class of greenhouse gases,' said Alexander von Bismarck, executive director of the Environmental Investigation Agency. 'We should expect other automakers and manufacturing sectors to follow GM's lead, and for the transition to alternative and natural refrigerants to accelerate dramatically.'