You want a good short-term replacement? Use plain propane! It has all the efficiency of normal CFC refrigerants. It is as efficient as R12 and is far better than R134a (the environmentally "safe" option). It is CHEAP, because we don't have any complex synthesis steps to make it. It's practically a waste gas from oil drilling.
Why don't we use it? Because it's dangerous in large quantities. It's one thing to have a small bit of propane in your refrigerator. In fact, it's far less dangerous than the gas stove in your kitchen because there is simply not that much gas in a refrigerator. But, to make thousands of refrigerators requires large storage tanks that big companies don't want to make safe (because it costs money up front). So, we don't do it.
Incidentally, society would make up the investment money because of the the cheap nature of propane and the increased energy efficiency, but no one wants to pay an extry $10 per refrigerator to save hundreds of dollars over the product lifetime. Just look at the American consumer's decision on front-loading washers. A little up front cost and you make it back (and then some) in reduced utility bills.
Did I mention that you don't have to use special recovery techniques to capture "used" propane? You don't have to use special lubrication oil for the compressor?
Instead, we spend bunches of dollars and energy on synthesizing artificial R134a gas that won't burn. Well, at least the chemical plants are making money off of the decision. Oh, and the companies that own the electrical plants.
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