Study: 700 Million New AC Units Globally By 2030; Like Adding Whole Countries To GHG Output

[hatrack]

EDIT

In just 15 years, urban areas of China went from just a few percentage points of air conditioning penetration to exceeding 100 percent — “i.e. more than one room air conditioner (AC) per urban household,” according to a recent report on the global AC boom by researchers at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. And air conditioner sales are now increasing in India, Indonesia and Brazil by between 10 and 15 percent per year, the research noted. India, a nation of 1.25 billion people, had just 5 percent air conditioning penetration in the year 2011.

A study last year similarly found “a close relationship between household income and air conditioner adoption, with ownership increasing 2.7 percentage points per $1,000 of annual household income.” For Mexico in particular, it therefore projected a stupendous growth of air conditioning over the 21st century, from 13 percent of homes having it to 71 to 81 percent of homes.

“We expect that the demand for cooling as economies improve, particularly in hot climates, is going to be an incredible driver of electricity requirements,” U.S. Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz said in an interview. In most ways, of course, this is a very good thing: Protecting people from intense heat — a town in India this month saw temperatures exceed 123 degrees Fahrenheit — is essential for their health and well-being. It’s just that it’s going to come with a huge energy demand, and potentially huge carbon emissions to boot.

Overall, the Berkeley report projects that the world is poised to install 700 million air conditioners by 2030, and 1.6 billion of them by 2050. In terms of electricity use and greenhouse gas emissions, that’s like adding several new countries to the world.

EDIT

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2016/05/31/the-world-is-about-to-install-700-million-air-conditioners-heres-what-that-means-for-the-climate/

[NickB79]

1. And the current heat wave they're experiencing will no doubt drive demand even higher

123F and a bit of humidity? Fucking a.

[sylvanus]

2. the hotter it gets,

the more we use energy, carbon based energy. We won't be able to build or create alternative power sources quick enough to off set the accelerating demand for cooling. We need to start digging down to stay cool. We should have been doing this years ago, but easy energy made us lazy.

[GliderGuider]

3. Speaking of "adding new countries"

Population growth is adding a new Germany to the planet every year. At least they'll all stay cool as the situation heats up!