Molecular formula of sulfur hexaFLUORIDE

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(Corrections made on June 1 to show data refers to German sales of sulphur hexafluoride, not emissions)

May 27 (Reuters) – German sales of sulphur hexafluoride, the most potent of all greenhouse gases, rose 13 percent last year compared with 2013 levels, according to data from the federal statistics office published on Wednesday.

Sales of sulphur hexafluoride increased by 104 tonnes to 916 tonnes in total last year, but were still 16 percent lower than 2012, the statistics office said.

The most potent of all greenhouse gases, sulphur hexafluoride has a global warming effect some 22,800 times that of carbon dioxide (CO2) when compared over a 100-year period.

It is mainly produced in industrial processes, such as the production of electronics and apparatus.

Sulphur hexafluoride is one of the six greenhouse gases, with CO2 the most important pollutant. They are also called Kyoto gases, as they were defined in the climate pact struck in that Japanese city.

While sulphur hexafluoride sales rose last year, the environment ministry said in March that greenhouse gas emissions dropped by 4.3 percent year-on-year to 912 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent in 2014. (Reporting by Caroline Copley; Editing by Mark Potter)

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