As global temperatures rise, the need for cooling solutions has become a critical health and safety issue.

The irony is that the increasing demand for cooling is fuelling the proverbial climate fire, thanks to the energy consumption of today’s cooling technologies and the climate impact of the refrigerants they contain. To avoid continuing this dangerous feedback loop, we must urgently transform the cooling sector.

A large part of this transformation will come from reducing the need for mechanical cooling through smarter building design and urban planning, but we cannot rely on passive measures alone to keep people, food and medicines safe. As extreme heat events become more frequent and intense, mechanical cooling technologies such as air conditioners are no longer considered a luxury.

While some technologies still need further development, several solutions available today can help reduce the sector’s climate impact. If we get cooling right, we could avoid 100 GtCO₂e by 2050, while also drastically expanding cooling access.

Energy efficient cooling technologies
Space cooling accounts for nearly 16% of the building sector’s electricity consumption. Without moving towards the best available products and improving the performance of the buildings and environments in which they operate, it is predicted that this figure could increase by as much as 40% globally by 2030.

Building on the fantastic work completed under RMI’s Global Cooling Prize, the Clean Cooling Collaborative (CCC) is working with partners to catalyse the transition from the prize’s ‘5X’ air conditioner prototypes – units that can provide thermal comfort with five times less climate impact – to market-ready products.

Within the next few years, the CCC and its partners aim to see 5X air conditioners being developed and commercialised by multiple manufacturers. Partnership with industry and governments will be critical to creating the policy and market conditions necessary to support the delivery of breakthrough technologies into the marketplace.

We must also revise the test procedures for measuring product energy use and performance. As the current method only tests at medium humidity levels and full loads, it doesn’t capture the additional energy savings that these models can deliver in climates with high humidity and when operated at partial load. Including these features in test methods would help distinguish the super-efficient products from those currently in use.

Heat pump technologies, which can provide energy-efficient cooling as well as clean heating, also have a role to play. Did you know that replacing old air conditioning units with a heat pump can improve your home’s cooling efficiency by 50%?

Performance standards
The adoption of ambitious efficiency standards will ensure that only the most energy efficient appliances are produced and sold. To get on track with the net zero scenario, the average efficiency rating of new air conditioners would need to increase by at least 50% by 2030 in all markets.

Policies such as Minimum Energy Performance Standards (MEPS) could double the average air conditioner’s efficiency. While more than 80 countries already have MEPS for air conditioners, and additional standards are currently under development in more than 20 countries, they’re not all created equal. Any existing MEPS that is not in line with United for Efficiency’s Model Regulation Guidelines should be updated.

By 2026, we hope to have raised the efficiency floor and removed the least efficient cooling products (eg, fixed speed air conditioners) from key markets, much like China has achieved with its adoption of top-tier standards.

Grid-friendly cooling
As demand for cooling increases, it’s projected to contribute to almost 50% of some countries’ peak electricity load, leading to power outages and high costs for consumers.

Demand response programmes can enhance the flexibility of cooling loads and reduce the strain on power grids, which is particularly important as they evolve into more dynamic systems with the increasing use of renewable energy. To support this transition, we must scale up and deploy innovative demand management solutions and enabling business models.

Today’s cooling technologies consume a vast amount of electricity and produce a significant amount of global emissions. However, much more can be done to dramatically reduce cooling’s emissions impact while increasing cooling access for communities vulnerable to extreme heat.

The right solutions already exist, we just need to urgently scale up their adoption around the world.

The views and opinions expressed in this article are strictly those of the author only and are not necessarily given or endorsed by or on behalf of the Energy Institute.