HOW DO WE REDUCE ENERGY CONSUMPTION BY 30%?
A key driver of climate instability is the warming of the oceans, whose record temperatures have been connected to recent, devastating natural disasters.
By: Sigrid Vestergaard Frandsen, Director of Environmental Health
​Most indoor spaces in the U.S. are cooled far below what is necessary — often 18–20°C (65–68°F). The cooling services industry is currently responsible for over 10% of the global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. To put that into perspective, the commercial airline industry is responsible for "only" 4% of the GHG emissions. Therefore, in the future, we will have to redefine what “comfort” means to us. Because comfort is no longer just an indoor preference, it’s an environmental decision.
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Today, air conditioners are clustered mostly in wealthier countries. In the United States and Japan, 9 out of 10 households have AC units. In India and Indonesia, only 1 in 10 households have ACs, and about 3 in 10 in Brazil and Mexico.
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This means that not everyone has equal access to room-cooling technologies, while our world is heating more rapidly, and overconsumption of air conditioning is quickly becoming a ticking carbon bomb, particularly in countries where wealth is also growing, as well as an increase in year-round heatwaves.​​
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Energy and climate researcher Shelie Miller, from the University of Michigan, warns that we are going to see a rapid expansion of ACs around the world in the near future.​
Miller predicts that the global demand for room ACs will surge from 1.2 billion units in 2018 to beyond 5 billion units by 2050 among those who can afford it, including a fivefold increase in the tropics and subtropics. If that prediction comes true, that means the world will emit 4000 TWh in 2050 (1.47 million metric tonnes of CO2) on air conditioning alone. That is the same as 36,716,968 gasoline-powered passenger vehicles driven for just one year.
One more thing to notice is that, if all cooling needs were met, regardless of wealth, 14 billion AC units would be needed globally by 2050.
Here’s the real secret to a meaningful climate progress: Technology is powerful, but human behavior is exponential. One household changing its habits makes a difference, a million households doing it becomes a cultural shift, one nation doing it becomes a turning point. We don’t have to wait for innovations or new policies. Habit change is the solution that is available today, costs nothing, and delivers immediate impact.
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More efficient homes with simple cooling practices, like heat abatement technologies, shading and shielding windows, and smart ventilation, could transform our energy culture, how we build new houses, and, ultimately, how we live.​
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​​In that future, comfort isn’t bought at the cost of the planet’s health.
Energy efficiency can even improve the comfort of everyday life and health, which may not be factored into most benefit statistics - and you can save money, too!