April 24, 2023
According to the International Energy Agency, the approximately 2 billion air conditioning units in operation around the world were responsible for 994 million tons of CO2 emissions in 2021.These emissions are growing every year, as the living standard of people in the world’s developing economies continues to improve. By 2050, there will be nearly 6 billion air conditioning units in use worldwide.
Air conditioning, also referred to as space cooling, leads to greenhouse gas emissions via energy consumption. Cooling indoor spaces accounts for almost 20 percent of the electricity used in buildings. In China’s large and medium-sized cities, air conditioning in summer accounts for about 60 percent of the peak electricity load, which is the period of time when demand for electricity is highest.
In 2019, China’s National Development and Reform Commission and other departments jointly issued the “National Clean Cooling Action Plan”. The plan is to improve overall energy efficiency levels of cooling products, such as household air conditioners, by more than 25 percent, and increase the market share of green and high-efficiency cooling products by more than 40 percent by 2030.
(Read the full op-ed here)