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Climate Brief:Climate crisis- Air conditioning: the benefits, problems and alternatives Guardian UK [1]
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Date: 2023-08-06
Amid record-breaking heat, increased access to air conditioning could save lives – but AC units are damaging the environment. Are there other options?
record for most 110F (43.3C) days. California’s Death Valley had its highest temperature ever. An airport in coastal Iran saw a heat index of 152F, while Beijing saw a record stretch of 95F days.
Oppressive heatwaves have become more frequent and more severe as a result of the climate crisis – a trend that’s expected to continue, and could worsen in proportion to how quickly we can transition from fossil fuels.
Many are working to make air conditioners more affordable and to improve the reliability of electricity grids. Yet there is another problem: air conditioners warm the Earth.
To beat the heat, people are increasingly turning to air conditioning. The number of AC units globally could increase by 244% by 2050, according to the International Energy Agency, and demand could rise by 59% within the US, according to a 2020 analysis by independent research group Climate Central.
Increased access to air conditioning could save lives; after all, in the US, extreme heat is the single deadliest form of extreme weather. But it could also come with drawbacks.
Below we look at the challenges today and in the years ahead, and consider some of the alternatives.
Billions of people don’t have access, and the energy costs are huge
The technology can be expensive to purchase and run, often rendering it inaccessible to poor communities in the US and globally. In the US, research shows lower-income households are much more likely to lack access to the technologies. And one 2019 study found that between 1.8 and 4.1 billion people in developing countries who regularly experience dangerously high temperatures lack access to cooling technology.
The appliances use a lot of energy. Between now and 2050, cooling technologies including AC units are projected to be the biggest contributor to growing energy demand, according to the Intergovernmental Energy Agency – a problem, since most global energy currently comes from fossil fuels. The US broke its summer record for daily gas consumption on at least two separate occasions, data from S&P Global Commodity Insights shows, and AC usage is a key contributor.
Most AC models also require the use of planet-heating chemicals to cool the air. The most commonly used refrigerants in ACs are hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) are potent greenhouse gases – thousands of times more effective at trapping heat than carbon dioxide.
www.theguardian.com/…
AC usage also puts pressure on electricity grids. That can be risky: if a five-day heat wave and a power outage hit the city of Phoenix at the same time, more than 50% of the city’s current population of 1.4 million could end up in the emergency room, one recent study found.
GROUND SOURCE HEAT PUMP *
Cooling the house for a month is maybe $10 worth of electricity, and this is the most efficient way to do it,” said Maioli. During the coldest winter month, their highest heating bill was around $70....archive.li
In hot and dry heat, another useful low-energy technology is the air cooler, also known as the swamp cooler. These devices use a fan to recirculate air across a cool, wet material and then disperse the freshly dampened, cool air into the home. Like dehumidifiers and fans, swamp coolers are cost and energy efficient, and are also widely available.
But there are low-tech ways to keep homes cool, too buildings can be better designed to keep temperatures down.
Homes – especially roofs – can also be painted white to lower indoor temperatures. White roofs products stay coolest under the sun’s rays because they reflecting away between 60 and 90% of sunlight, according to the Department of Energy. And buildings can be designed with ventilation in mind to lower temperatures. Wind towers, for instance, can be built to draw cool breeze indoors; placing ponds of water underneath them can make the structures even more effective.
What about shade?
Shade can make a big difference within the home and outside of it. The simple act of drawing opaque curtains closed, for instance, can help push down indoor temperatures, said Shandas. Communities can employ that same strategy by planting trees throughout neighborhoods.
One crucial strategy is weatherization
“We are not in a position as a species to necessarily think that we are going to be able to find that silver bullet out of this extreme heat,” said Shandas. “We need to be finding the myriad different effective solutions that are socially and politically palatable, and that are sustainable in the long run.”
More options for cooling
Other common technologies can play a major role in cooling homes. Fans, for instance, are much cheaper and far less energy consuming than ACs, said Rao, the Yale professor. They can also be surprisingly effective, especially in hot, dry environments.
experts say that by employing other strategies to lower temperatures in homes, we can lessen the environmental toll of air conditioning, allowing people to stay cool without warming the planet.
There are more energy-saving cooling technologies
One of the buzziest air conditioning technologies are electric heat pumps, which can both heat and cool homes. On hot days, the appliances pump hot air out of the home and draw cool air in.
Close houses up after leaving open at night and pull the shades down
Aug 2, 2022 — Here are a few tried-and-tested tips from India on how to stay cool without an ac
How can I keep my car cool without AC? "); display: inline-block; height: 24px; width: 24px; transform: rotateZ(-180deg);">
Here's how you can stay cool when your car's air conditioning is broken. Roll the windows down. Photo: istockphoto.com. ... Park in the shade. Photo: istockphoto.com. ... Crack a window open. Photo: istockphoto.com. ... Buy a cooling seat cover. ... Bring a cold drink. ... Grab a cooling towel. ... Plug in a portable AC. ... Try a DIY fix.
Aug 9, 2022 — 1. Sleep in a wet sheet (really) · 2. Utilize frozen water bottles · 3. Deflect the..… More Links www.google.com/...
Deforestation Every day almost 2 million trees are cut down to make tp roll, according to research by environmental impact consultancy Edge www.theguardian.com . Climate Brief:Every day 2 million trees cut making tp- Toilet paper from non trees saves trees! . Energy & Environment Deforestation jumped 10% last year despite global pledges Big Heat and Big Oil
A rapid end to burning fossil fuel would arrest the heating that has caused extreme damage in recent weeks; and that rapid end is possible.
newyorker.com/... . Deforestation in Brazilian Amazon caused emission of 90 million metric tons of CO2 in 2013–21, reports study .phys.org/… . Imagine your child calling for money. Except it’s not them – it’s an AI scam James Wise Science ‘It was an accident’: the scientists who have turned humid air into renewable power Tesla speculated electricity from thin air was possible – now the question is whether it will be possible to harness it on the scale needed to power our homes . . Is Pride the right target for Just Stop Oil? Yes, when it’s letting our common enemy off the hook James Greig Pride faced accusations of “pinkwashing” over its decision to make United Airlines the headline sponsor of this year’s event. LGBTQ+ rights and the climate crisis are not separate, when the forces working against them are so often one and the same. . Opinion Consider the heatwave and floods: can we still save the planet for our children? I think we can. It is easy to despair as we leave one geological epoch and enter another. Our situation is dire, but we can address it . NPR GOATS AND SODA Wet socks can make a difference: Tips from readers on keeping cool without AC Bec Roldan . This heatwave is a climate omen.
But it’s not too late to change course
Michael Mann and Susan Joy Hassol We cannot afford to give in to despair. Better to channel our energy into action, as there’s so much work to be done to prevent this crisis from escalating into a catastrophe. If the extremes of this summer fill you with fears of imminent and inevitable climate collapse, remember, it’s not game over. It’s game on guardian.com/… . TECHNOLOGY AI-GENERATED JUNK IS FLOODING ETSY Coloring books, stickers, mugs, and T-shirts are being pumped out by AI-assisted hustlers. . Look at the crisis in the Amazon and understand the stakes: we’re battling for life itself Mark Ruffalo At this week’s Amazon summit, the world must stand with Indigenous peoples – and demand protection for the rainforest
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