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Air conditioners have become a lifeline in the midst of more and more heat waves. These devices are critical to keeping people cool and protected from dangerous hot weather – the International Energy Agency estimates that by 2050 there will be more than 5 billion air conditioners on the planet. Protecting people’s well-being is a major contributor to climate change.
So why not consider AC altogether?
The basic science of air conditioners has not changed much since they were invented a century ago, but these devices have become a bigger and bigger threat to life on Earth. Most modern air conditioners use a large amount of energy, strain the electricity grid on hot summer days and use harmful chemicals, refrigerants, that trap heat in the atmosphere. That’s why, with so many structural changes the world needs to make to fight climate change, some experts say it’s time to cool our homes.
“We need to design our buildings in a way that consumes less energy. We need to insulate them better. We need to ventilate them better,” explained Ankit Kalanki, managing director of Third Derivative, a climate technology accelerator at the sustainability research organization RMI. “These strategies are very important. First and foremost. We can reduce the need for air conditioning, but we cannot eliminate it.
The race to redesign the AC is already underway. The IEA predicts that two-thirds of the world’s homes will have air conditioning within the next three decades. About half of these units are installed in just three countries: India, China and Indonesia. The extent to which these new air conditioners are exacerbating climate change is replacing the cooling technology we currently use with something better. Now, ideas range from retrofitting our windows to far-fetched concepts like roof panels that reflect sunlight and release heat into space. But to succeed, the world needs to increase the efficiency of our existing equipment as quickly as possible and invest in new technology that can eliminate some of AC’s main problems.
AC’s harmful environmental impact stems from its core technology: vapor compression. This technology involves several components, but generally works by converting the refrigerant stored in an AC from a liquid to a gas, which traps heat and removes it from the room. Steam compression uses large amounts of electricity on very hot days, and there is growing concern that the technology could eventually overwhelm the capacity of the power supply grid. And hydrofluorocarbons, the chemical refrigerants many ACs use to trap heat, are greenhouse gases that trap a lot of heat in our atmosphere when they’re released into the air. The challenge, for now, is that vapor compression ACs are still a critical tool during a deadly heat wave, especially for high-risk populations, including young children, the elderly, and people with certain medical conditions.
Technology exists to build cleaner, more efficient air conditioners. Two major AC manufacturers, Daikin and Gree Electrical Appliances, shared the top prize at last year’s Global Refrigeration Awards, an international competition focused on designing climate-friendly AC tech. Both companies created ACs with high internal performance that use less environmental damage refrigerants; The new units can reduce their impact on the climate by five times. These models aren’t on the market yet — Gray plans to sell its prototypes in 2025, and Daikin told Recode it hopes to use the new technology in future products — but the IEA estimates that using more efficient ACs could reduce the refrigerator’s environmental impact. in half.
Instead of venting heat pumps to the outside, it’s doubling down on heat pumps using a steam compressor. Heat pumps typically cost several thousand dollars, although the Inflation Reduction Act includes a significant heat pump rebate proposal, and President Joe Biden has called for the Defense Production Act to boost production. Installing heat pumps is critical to another important climate goal: transitioning away from fossil-fuel-powered furnaces, which are a bigger source of emissions than refrigeration. An HVAC system can provide both heating and cooling, but it does not rely on vapor compression.
“Heat pumps are a critical technology for reducing our energy consumption, improving grid reliability and the use of renewable energy, reducing emissions, reducing our dependence on external energy sources, and reducing utility bills for American households and businesses,” Antonio Buza, chief technology officer at the Department of Energy, told Record. The next step, he said, is further reducing existing vapor compression systems by mounting heat pumps on top of refrigerators.
Another challenge is that heat pumps aren’t the easiest equipment to install, especially for renters who don’t necessarily have the money or the capacity for bulky HVAC systems. To overcome this problem, a company called Gradient has designed a heat pump that simply slides over the window – it doesn’t block out light – and currently uses a refrigerant called R32, which is thought to have a (comparatively) low global warming potential. Gradient recently won a contract to install the units in New York City public housing.
A new group of companies wants to make even bigger changes to how we cool our homes. One such startup is Blue Frontier, which is backed by Bill Gates’ investment fund, Breakthrough Energy Ventures, and plans to sell future AC units by 2025. The company’s technology uses a special salt solution that releases water into the air – or expels it – which allows the AC to regulate its temperature. This approach, Blue Frontier claims, can save up to 90 percent of the energy used by traditional AC and avoid draining electricity from the grid during peak hours.
“By eliminating air conditioning, which is a problem for the grid, it allows the grid to reduce the costs of the power generation. [and] Use renewable energy more efficiently, the company’s CEO, Daniel Betts, told Record. “So not only do we save energy, but we save energy in the most critical moments.”
Scientists and startups are toying with other concepts. One way the Transera company is going is to develop new materials that effectively absorb moisture from the air, such as sponges, to make air conditioners work more efficiently. A similar concept is the use of solid-state technology. This idea uses solid materials to absorb heat, and some research on it has received support from the US Department of Energy. The British company Barocal is developing a type of plastic crystal that can do just that and help regulate temperature. One company, Phononic, is looking to replace existing HVAC systems. It has developed a solid-state core that can be integrated into systems. The company says the first commercial installation will be next year.
While most of these technological breakthroughs are promising, the movement to transform air conditioners still faces some major challenges. Currently, AC manufacturers are mainly focusing on meeting lower performance standards rather than competing for higher efficiency standards. Consumers buy air conditioners based on their sticker price, not the AC’s overall impact on their energy bills. And while there are a growing number of AC-focused startups, the industry is still dominated by a small handful of large companies, all of which focus primarily on far-fetched vapor compression technology.
Eli Goldstein, co-founder and CEO of SkyCool, said: “We don’t install efficient technologies unless we want them to or they’re mandated by a government or other organization.” From buildings and ACs to space. “Ultimately, what will matter will be the dollar investments from private and public enterprises to deploy the technologies.”
Other changes, such as making our homes better insulated and installing batteries throughout the grid, are still critical to combating climate change. However, all signs show that people will continue to buy air conditioners, not only to feel comfortable, but also to survive the increasingly harsh weather caused by climate change. This is especially true in some of the world’s largest countries and fastest growing economies as temperatures and incomes rise. In India alone, demand for refrigeration technology has been growing between 15 and 20 percent annually since 2020.
This growing demand creates a promising, but incredibly dangerous situation. The ever-increasing demand for cooling is an opportunity to encourage competition to build the best AC technology and, ideally, technology that eliminates fuel-based heating. But if better, more affordable AC does not come to market quickly – especially for the many people in developing countries who will buy these items in the coming decades – worse air conditioners will take their place and warm the planet faster.
This story was originally published in the Record Newspaper. Register here So don’t miss the next one!
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