Super efficient air conditioning technology reduces energy costs

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As average temperatures increase, demand for air conditioning systems will also increase. According to the latest study Sponsored by RMI – formerly known as Rocky Mountain Institute – Air conditioning today represents almost 20% of the electricity consumed by buildings in the world. At the end of this decade, RMI expects the cooling of interior spaces to become the second most important factor that increases the demand for electricity. Only the demand to supply battery vehicles will be larger.

If the world continues to use the cooling technologies available today, air conditioning systems around the world will put a huge constraint on the electrical network and will be responsible for more than 100 gigatons of equivalent CO2 emissions by 2050 – double the annual global emissions today. Return to this challenge is a question of human health, comfort and equity, and is crucial for our ability to adapt to the changing climate, says RMI.

India is already the fastest growth air conditioning market in the world, and the projections suggest that the nation will have more than the air conditioners of a billion rooms in operation by 2050, increasing its request for electricity to cool nine times compared to the year 2022. “The general adoption of current CA technology could compromise both the electricity network and the environment, RMI says. Therefore, India has an urgent need and an excellent opportunity to be a pioneer in the innovation of cooling technologies. »»

At the end of 2018, a coalition led by RMI, the Department of Indian Government Sciences and Technology, and Mission Innovation launched the world cooling price. This competition had a daring and ambitious objective of developing an affordable residential cooling solution with an climate impact five times lower due to a combination of greater energy efficiency and a lower potential refrigerant than the typical units sold at the time in India.

The global cooling price for air conditioning technology

In 2021, the global cooling price challenged the cooling industry to identify the best possible residential cooling technology. The winning conceptions managed to have demonstrated prototypes that have had an impact on climate emissions which was five times less than the conventional cooling equipment used today. In addition, the more recent equipment has achieved greater comfort at a significantly lower cost than the useful lifespan of the equipment, thanks to very effective components optimized to manage humidity and use refrigerants adapted to the earth.

These super effective A / C use several times less energy than conventional products and have the potential to considerably reduce cutting -edge demand and neutralize climatic impacts which will invariably occur if continuous India using conventional cooling equipment.

The results show that under real conditions, super effective AC used 60% energy less than typical AC units, while reducing advanced demand and improving the comfort of the occupants. The study also revealed critical gaps in current test standards – in particular with regard to the operation of the cooling equipment under high humidity conditions. Current test standards underestimate the actual energy consumption of air conditioning equipment in hot and humid climates largely because of the way in which conventional cooling equipment is trying to control humidity. The tests have revealed that up to 25% additional energy is used just to manage humidity in conventional units.

The air conditioners mainly cool the air through what is called “sensitive cooling”, which lowers air temperature. They dehumidify the air in a process called “latent cooling”. However, air conditioners are mainly designed to manage temperature, not on humidity, and their dehumidification capacities are limited. Most of their energy intake goes towards sensitive cooling, leaving very little energy available for latent cooling. This energy allowance is largely fixed, leaving users little capacity to improve the balance between cooling and dehumidification. Consequently, today’s ACSs are ineffective in humidity management, which causes discomfort invoices or high public services for people who live in hot and humid places like India.

The tested units were necessary to reach a target temperature of 27 ° C (81 ° F) and a relative humidity of 60%. Field tests have also established the limits of the current test standard and highlighted the way in which the units optimized to obtain a higher performance assessment have much higher energy consumption in the field than what is predicted by these standards today. The tests have proven that the adoption of super effective SCA will improve the comfort of the occupants, will reduce energy consumption, reduce the peak demand and the drop in greenhouse gas emissions.

Save 400 gigawatts

Allowing super effective ACS to market and successfully access on the market could reduce the peak load of India by around 400 gigawatts in 2050 – equivalent to the total energy capacity of India installed today. This would considerably reduce pressure on electrical networks, saves $ 380 billion in investments in new infrastructure and supports India’s climatic objectives.

But this impact is not limited to India, indicates the report. Super effective ACs also have the opportunity to modify the trajectory of global energy consumption and emissions. The deployment of super effective ACs for the 3 billion additional AC units which should be installed worldwide by 2050 would avoid 68 gigabilions of cumulative emissions. To put this in perspective, it is more than current total annual emissions. We are talking about a major impact on emissions and the demand for electricity over the next 25 years.

However, this transformation will force managers, decision -makers, manufacturers and major buyers to unite and demonstrate their leadership at this critical moment to stimulate change. By establishing new test standards and performance rating systems, promoting market demand and taking measures to improve affordability, India can unlock the potential of super effective ACS. These actions are essential to improve life, strengthen the resilience of gates and approach the climate crisis.

The scaling of these technologies requires rethinking the way we define and measure performance. The report argues to update efficiency standards and the acceleration of early adoption of super effective SCA through supply and demonstration efforts. It helps to educate the main stakeholders such as government leaders, decision -makers, air conditioning manufacturers and industry players and financial institutions. Obtaining their support for the development, marketing and adoption of super effective air conditioners in India and the world is essential to maintain the Habitable land for hundreds of millions of people.

Huge economic resilience, the resilience of the grid and the climate benefits from India and the world to gain from the marketing of super efficient A / C equipment and making it accessible to people is clear. In doing so, we can give access to cooling for everyone, without further warm up the planet.

A vicious circle

Most of us can see what’s going on here. The land becomes warmer, which will raise sales of air conditioning equipment. More air conditioners mean that more electricity will be necessary to execute them all. Despite the most fervent hopes of Cleantechnica Readers that any new electricity will come from non -polluting renewable energy sources, we know that this will not be the case. Jackasses like Chris WrightThe current US Energy Secretary, run by shouting the world – in particular Africa – will need many more coal generation stations to meet their future needs. More thermal generators powered by coal or methane will make the world even warmer than it is already, which will increase the demand for air conditioning even more.

This is not a news. We wrote about it Over 6 years ago. But it is a vicious circle, which will feed itself in perpetuity unless we find a way to break the feedback loop and inject a certain mental health into the penchant of humanity for self-destructive behavior. The global cooling price is an important tool to do this precisely. A parallel is the development of more effective heat pumps, which can both heat and cool our living spaces.

I recently dined with someone who criticized the heat pumps because they do not work below 40 ° F and cost more to run than good old -fashioned city gases. I was a little surprised to hear this and asked a few questions. It turns out that her experience was 20 years ago, so even if her characterization was correct for this period, it is not relevant for modern heat pumps.

The political implications of this must be taken into account by RMI and all the others promoting new air conditioning technology. There are billions of people using air conditioning units today that will tell you that they are not working very well and are expensive to manage. It takes a long time to change the minds of people. As Mark Twain has so famous, “what you don’t know will not hurt you as much as you know that it’s not going well.”

Today, only one company manufactures air conditioning equipment that uses the latest high -efficiency technology. This means that there is still a long way to go. It’s time to start.