HFC-134a is a widely used environment-friendly refrigerant. At present

China is the largest producer of HFC-134a in the world. The production of HFC-134a in China mainly adopts the calcium carbide acetylene route. However

the production route has high resource and energy consumption and large waste emission

and few of the studies addressed on the environmental performance of its production process. This study quantified the environmental performance of HFC-134a production by calcium carbide route

via

carrying out a life cycle assessment (LCA) using the CML 2001 method. And uncertainty analysis by Monte-Carlo simulation was also carried out. The results showed that electricity had the most impact on the environment

followed by steam

hydrogen fluoride and chlorine

and the impact of direct CO

2

emissions in calcium carbide production stage on the global warming effect also could not be ignored. Therefore

the clean energy (

e

.

g

.

wind

solar

biomass

and natural gas) was used to replace coal-based electricity and coal-fired steam in this study

showing considerable environmental benefits. At the same time

the use of advanced production technologies could also improve environmental benefits

and the environmental impact

of the global warming category could be reduced by 4.1%

via

using CO

2

capture and purification technology. The Chinese database of HFC-134a production established in this study provides convenience for the relevant study of scholars. For the production of HFC-134a

this study helps to better identify the specific environmental hotspots and proposes useful ways to improve the environmental benefits.