Hot air behind your cold fridge? Why the future of cooling must be sustainable

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Picture this: you live in a hot and humid climate, and you get access to energy. What’s the first thing you buy to stay cool? An air conditioner (AC). As incomes and standards of living increase around the world, so does the use of ACs. As a result, the global energy demand for ACs is expected to triple by 2050. However, people are buying units with average efficiencies of less than half of what is available on the market. To respond to the growing demand for cooling, we must, first and foremost, think energy efficiency.


Cooling appliances such as ACs consume energy and emit heat while running. Anyone who has ever put their hand behind their fridge knows what I’m talking about. In turn, these heat gains add to air-conditioning demand. This dynamic, combined with the rising demand for cooling, drives up both power needs and CO2 emissions. Hence the need to think energy efficiency.


Sustainable cooling solutions


I am fiercely passionate about supporting the development of technologies that cool people, products and the planet. Inevitably, the International Energy Agency (IEA)'s recent report 'The Future of Cooling' caught my attention. It shows that cooling appliances account for about a fifth of the total electricity in buildings around the world, or 10% of all global electricity consumption. In a nutshell, cooling is the strongest driver of growth in electricity demand from buildings. Just three countries - India, China, Indonesia - contribute to half of it.


Therefore it’s crucial to lead the way towards a sustainable cooling sector. We need to start today. We must follow a path that focuses on the best available technology and helps reduce the impact of cooling on energy demand and CO2 emissions. Smart energy solutions such as district energy, thermal storage or heat pump technology can combine heating and cooling cycles, and enable other innovations such as heat recovery. Combining cooling and heating synergies is highly energy and resource-efficient, and an affordable solution to help stabilize the wider energy system. Consider the next two examples of solutions that do exactly this.


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