In the fire protection industry, the war of words has been particularly sharp over a class of materials known as 'clean agents,' which includes halocarbon compounds, such as halon and various halon alternatives, inert gases and carbon dioxide. A sustainable fire protection technology can be defined as one that extinguishes fires effectively; is economical to install and maintain; and perhaps most important in today's business climate, offers a favourable environmental, health and safety profile ― allowing it to be used both today and in the foreseeable future with little or no regulatory restriction. In many ways, this definition of sus-tainability mirrors the fire protection concerns of the maritime industry, which is under increasing pressure to control costs and improve safety, while at the same time, complying with stringent new environmental regulations. In particular, the European Union requirement to decommission halon fire protection systems by the end of December has given a new urgency to the need to find a sustainable replacement for halons. The actual production of halon was banned starting in 1991 by the Montreal Protocol, because of the material's high ozone depletion potential. Since that time, the fire protection industry has turned to a number of 'first-generation' halon replacement technologies to fill the gap. But over time, a class of compounds known as HFCs (hydrofluoros) emerged as a widely used clean agent for fire protection in occupied spaces.
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