I’m writing this in the height of summer, as the air conditioner (AC) blasts onto my face. As it gets hotter and hotter, I find myself guilty of switching it on more frequently and longer – and it’s making my electricity bill go through the roof.

Cooling down is now consuming tons of power around the world, especially as global temperatures rise and scorching summers become the new norm. According to Bloomberg, space cooling – AC, fans and dehumidifiers, takes up more than two-thirds of peak electricity demand on hot days in parts of the US and the Middle East. In Saudi Arabia, air conditioning accounts for 70% of total annual electricity demand.

However, with all this cooling, it’s not just surging energy bills we should be worried about… it’s also the soaring emissions that come with it… So we need to think twice, while all this equipment may be cooling us down now, it’s heating up the planet and creating a vicious cycle.

Before we dive deeper into this, let’s first get on top of what needs cooling because it’s not just us…

Many things need cooling – medicines, textiles, data centers, AI etc. …

Whilst many of us own the obvious cooling equipment like ACs, fans, refrigerators, freezers and dehumidifiers at home, there are also tons of not-so-obvious but vital cooling equipment needed for our lives and economy. For example, cold storage warehouses, often controlled at refrigeration or fully frozen temperatures, can store and preserve large quantities of perishable goods like pharmaceutical products, medicines, chemicals, or even historic artworks, organic textiles (silk and wool), flowers etc.

Whilst many of us own ACs, fans, refrigerators etc…

…there are also tons of not-so-obvious but vital cooling equipment needed for our lives & economy

Another example is the need for cooling in data centers. To use our computers/phones, the internet or store data in the cloud – data centers need to run on tons of computing power and electricity, which in turn generate lots of heat. Hence, to ensure all this equipment doesn’t overheat and fail, cooling (either in the form of air or liquid) is essential. This is especially important with the rise of AI tools/chatbots that now consume 4-5x more power than a normal search engine – but that’s a whole other issue which we’ve also covered here.

Extreme weather & accelerating warming = indoor-grown food = more refrigeration needed

Apart from all the things that already need cooling, accelerating extreme weather from floods, droughts and typhoons to extreme heat, is also adding pressure to our cooling crunch.

Food is increasingly grown in power-hungry/high tech greenhouses…

…plus hotter temps & lack of refrigeration is causing tons of food waste

One thing in particular that can’t withstand climate volatility is our food production. Because of this, food is increasingly being grown indoors in huge high-tech greenhouses and vertical farms that can recreate ideal climatic conditions for crops to flourish in. The downside of course is that indoor farming requires tons of equipment like heating, ventilation and AC (HVAC) systems which run on lots of power…

On the other hand, accelerating temperatures are also causing lots of food to be wasted – especially in developing countries where 23% of food production is wasted due to a lack of adequate refrigeration. As climate impacts intensify, undoubtedly more power-intensive indoor farms/refrigerators/cold storage warehouses are going to have to be built… but at what cost?

More cooling = more power = more emissions = hotter climate… Space-cooling is driving the demand…

According to the UNEP, between now and 2050, the installed capacity of cooling equipment is expected to triple, resulting in more than the doubling of electricity consumption.

By 2050, cooling equipment will triple = doubling our electricity consumption…

…but also adding 6.1bn tons of CO₂e = USA’s GHG emissions (2022)p

With the majority of cooling systems powered on fossil fuel-electricity – emissions could surge to 6.1 bn tons of CO₂e by 2050, which is equivalent to more than 10% of global projected emissions that year or the US’s GHG emissions in 2022. On top of these emissions, refrigerant gases in cooling equipment are also released, which have a much higher global warming potential than CO₂.

And what’s driving all this demand – it’s space cooling. I know that cooling down my small space at home takes up a lot of electricity especially during summer – now multiply that by billions of people who are also doing the same thing.

By 2050, AC in buildings could grow to 5.6bn = buying 10 new ACs every second for the next 26 yrs

According to a 2018 IEA report, space-cooling uses more than 2,000 TWh of electricity every year – the equivalent to 2.5x total electricity used across Africa, or 10% of the global total. Its growth is not slowing down either – AC in buildings will grow to 5.6 billion by 2050, up from 1.6 billion in 2018 – which amounts to 10 new ACs sold every second for the next 26 years.

Already in many parts of the world, the increasing need to cool down is causing huge stress on electricity grids – this summer places like Montenegro, Bosnia, Albania and Croatia experienced multiple power blackouts, business disruptions and traffic light malfunctions due to the surge in power caused extreme heat.

Surely with all this demand we should be focusing on switching to renewables ASAP. But given accelerating extreme weather, now also proving renewables to be unreliable at times – perhaps we need other solutions…

Passive cooling measures can drastically curb cooling demand & emissions

Clearly, cranking up the AC isn’t the smartest way to go about this. Instead of short term solutions that exacerbate warming, the UNEP suggests that implementing passive cooling measures in cities can be one of the most effective ways to help reduce cooling demand and stay cool in the long run.

Buildings can be redesigned & city-planning can include more green parks & wind corridors

Some of these include redesigning buildings with improved insulation or reflective surfaces, as the design of urban cities play a big factor when it comes to amplifying or reducing heat. In an interview with the Founder of i2Cool, we found that painting building surfaces with passive radiative cooling paint can reduce surface temperature by 40ºC and indoor air temperature by 10ºC – all in all saving 40% of energy consumption from air cooling.

Implementing these could reduce cooling capacity in 2050 by 24% & cut emissions by 1.3bn tons of CO2e = Japan’s GHG emissions in 2022

Another solution could be to incorporate more green parks, gardens and trees, as it can help with absorbing heat and creating more shade so that we feel much cooler. City planning with wind corridors in mind can also help increase natural cooling effects. Implementing such passive cooling measures can reduce the demand for overall cooling capacity in 2050 by 24% and reduce emissions by 1.3 bn tons of CO₂e – more than Japan’s GHG emissions in 2022.

Tweaking your habits at home can also help rein in cooling emissions

Whilst most of us are not in charge of implementing cooling strategies on a city-wide scale, there are small habit tweaks we can start doing which can lead to big emission cuts.

Using the fan more can cut emissions in homes by 90% = saving 1.2 tonnes of CO2/yr or 4 round flight trips from BK to HK!

Instead of using the AC, use the fan – this simple switch can cut carbon emissions in homes by 90%. That’s the equivalent to saving 1.2 tonnes of CO₂ per year or 4 round flight trips from Bangkok to Hong Kong. Our report found that if all households in the US, EU and China all made this switch, it could save ~369MtCo₂e = 2015 GHG emissions of the Philippines and Qatar combined!

So, don’t let your cooling habits further heat you and the world up!

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Further readings

• i2Cool: Cooling Paint for Buildings – Painting Hong Kong’s buildings with iPaint could reduce 580,000 tonnes of carbon emissions. We chat with i2Cool Founder, Dr Zhu to find out more
• Killing Us Faster? Power Hungry Thirsty AI Chatbots – AI has revolutionised internet search, but at what cost – it consumes 4x to 5x more energy than a normal search. So does AI make our lives easier or will it turn out to be energy guzzlers if powered by fossil fuels? CWR’s Lam breaks it down
• Genius Greens Aeroponic Farms: The Future of Agriculture – In the midst of our current food conundrum we chat with King Lai, Founder of Genius Greens, set up an aeroponic farm in Hong Kong to reduce food miles & bolster local production
• It’s Time to Tweak Yourself to Save the Planet– CWR’s McGregor gives a sneak peek into CWR’s upcoming report that shows how simple tweaks to our habits from transport to food and shopping to being online matter for the climate

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• 5 Ways Heat Can Kill — It’s hot, it’s bad & it’s here to stay, killer heat has arrived. It claims nearly half a million lives each year & it could get worse as our planet continues to warm. But how does heat kill? CWR’s Chai shares 5 ways

• A Conversation with Jed O. Kaplan – Climate Change & Wildfires – Wildfires are raging like never before. What’s supercharging them? We sit down with Kaplan, Professor at the University of Calgary, to find out the key ingredients, the impacts climate change is having & what can be done

• If Earth gets sick, so do you – Earth’s growing fever has repercussions for human health. What should we be worried about? How is climate change changing the transmission of >20 tropical diseases? Are our brains at risk? Marley from The Conversation covers these questions and more