Earth Today | Worry over cooling demands

FROM PRESERVING fresh food to ensuring vaccines remain viable and people cool, keeping things chill is in high demand amidst rising global temperatures. However, doing so without worsening the climate crisis and inflating electricity budgets is a growing worry.

A recent report from the United Nations Environment Programme has revealed that “based on current policies, between now and 2050, the installed capacity of cooling equipment globally will triple, resulting in a more than doubling of electricity consumption”.

“This will lead emissions from cooling to surge to 6.1 billion tons of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e) in 2050, equivalent to more than 10 per cent of global projected emissions that year. This rapid increase in cooling will strain electricity grids in many countries,presenting a major hurdle to the ongoing transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy sources,” said the 2023 Global Cooling Watch report titled ‘ Keeping it chill: How to meet cooling demand while cutting emissions’.

“Cooling is a double burden on climate change. Rising demand for power-hungry equipment, such as air conditioners and refrigeration, will drive greater indirect emissions from the associated electricity consumption. At the same time, these emissions are compounded by direct emissions from the release of refrigerant gases in cooling equipment, the majority of which have a much higher global warming potential than CO2 (carbon dioxide),” the report added.

Against this background, the report has called for a deliberate shift to sustainable cooling in order to not only protect people but also “prosperity and the planet”.

This will require, it said, that the world seeks to realise a near zero emissions from cooling through, among other things, “synergistic policies, regulations, training and financial instruments that work together to create a strong and sustainable cooling ecosystem”.

PASSIVE COOLING

The implementation of passive cooling strategies, it has recommended, is an important part of the response.

“Passive cooling measures can dramatically reduce cooling loads while maintaining indoor thermal comfort as well as temperatures in cold storage. Techniques that can minimise heat ingress and building cooling demand include improved insulation, reflective surfaces, thermal mass, shading through nature and building design, natural ventilation, urban design, landscaping and orientation, and specifications for windows and doors,” the report explained.

“Building energy codes that explicitly incorporate such passive cooling measures are one of the most effective regulatory instruments to help reduce cooling demand. These codes can also be extremely important in driving uptake of efficient cooling equipment with low global warming potential (GWP). Sub-national governments can integrate building energy codes into municipal bylaws, and drive their enforcement, but need sufficient capacity to do so,” it added.

These measures, it predicted would yield a reduction in the growth in demand for cooling capacity in 2050 by 24 per cent, “result in capital cost savings in avoided new cooling equipment of around US$1.5 trillion to US$3 trillion (2020 US$) and reduce 2050 emissions by 1.3 billion tons of CO2e”.

CO2e refers to the number of metric tons of CO2 emissions with the same global warming potential as one metric ton of another greenhouse gas.

The prioritisation of energy efficiency as well as phasing down climate-warming refrigerants faster than the timelines established under the Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol are also essential, according to the report.

Also essential is “increasing the enforcement of building energy codes that reduce the cooling capacity and therefore the amount of refrigerant; and linking with efficiency programmes, such as those of utilities, to incorporate cost-effective opportunities to mitigate refrigerant emissions”.

“Enhanced implementation of stronger regulations on refrigerant recovery during servicing and/or disposal are critical, as is expanded service sector training and consumer awareness programmes,” the report said.

“Strengthening enforcement of the Montreal Protocol and its Kigali Amendment nationally will speed the transition and prevent the illegal trade in banned substances. Survey results show that so far, only 28 countries (out of 68 where data was available) have set up national import tariffs that restrict or constrain access to refrigeration or cooling equipment to prevent dumping,” it added.

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