Editorial 2 : Cooling: Necessity and emergency
Context
The Indian government's move to limit AC temperatures between 20°C and 28°C is a small technical step with major symbolic significance in rethinking our approach to cooling.
Fastest growing sector
- Cooling is the fastest-growing energy-consuming sector in India. With economic growth, rising urbanisation, and more intense and frequent heat waves, demand for air conditioning is surging.
- Cooling now accounts for a significant share of electricity consumption, and this is expected to rise exponentially. In Delhi, for example, ACs now account for nearly 40 per cent of the city’s annual electricity use.
- Even with modest penetration, ACs are already a major driver of peak electricity demand, prompting the installation of new coal-fired power plants just to meet summertime surges.
- In a country heavily reliant on coal, this directly undermines efforts to reduce emissions and meet climate targets.
- Additionally, the grid — under pressure from this rising load — is becoming increasingly vulnerable to stress and blackouts.
The issues
- This growth in AC use is particularly problematic because it relies primarily on vapour compression technology — the most energy-intensive and environmentally damaging cooling method.
- The climate cost of an AC extends well beyond electricity. Most ACs in India use hydrofluorocarbon (HFC) refrigerants — super greenhouse gases with global warming potentials hundreds or even thousands of times higher than carbon dioxide (CO2).
- Due to frequent leakage and poor servicing practices, these gases are typically refilled every two to three years.
- A typical 1.5-2.0 ton AC contains around 2 kg of HFCs, which, if released, equates to roughly 1.5 tonnes of CO2-equivalent emissions.
- And the total climate impact comes to around 2.25 tonnes of CO2-equivalent emissions annually.
Now a basic need
- Yet cooling is no longer a luxury. It has become a basic need. It is essential for health, productivity, and even social stability.
- Research shows that hot, sleepless nights are linked to increased aggression and violence.
- For the poor and vulnerable, the lack of cooling is not just uncomfortable, it can be fatal.
- The challenge, therefore, is to make cooling both accessible and sustainable. India cannot afford billions of energy-guzzling ACs.
- What we need is a complete reimagining of how we keep our homes, offices, and cities cool in ways that serve all people.
Both accessible and sustainable
- Buildings and urban layouts must be designed to stay cool naturally, using high-insulating building materials, shaded façades, reflective roofs, cross-ventilation, and landscaping.
- Cities must be made cooler through more green spaces, water bodies, reduced asphalt, and materials that lower heat absorption.
- India must invest in alternatives like centralised cooling and district cooling systems (DCS) — networks that supply chilled water through pipes to buildings, which can then be used for cooling.
- DCS can reduce cooling demand by 30-40 per cent and cut electricity bills in half. Hyderabad Pharma City, therefore aims to install one of the largest DCS facilities in Asia.
- At the same time, India must accelerate the development and deployment of super-efficient ACs.
- These innovations must be fast-tracked through targeted subsidies, smart regulations, and market transformation programmes to ensure both affordability and wide-scale adoption.
- Finally, cooling must be made inclusive. While the rich rely on air conditioners, the majority of India’s population remains vulnerable to extreme heat with little or no access to cooling.
- Ironically, ACs disproportionately affect the poor through overloaded grids, blackouts, and intensified urban heat islands.
- So, India should develop low-cost technologies that consume less energy. Public cooling shelters must be established in high-heat, high-poverty areas.
- Policies must prioritise access for those most at risk — street vendors, workers, slum dwellers, and the elderly. Solutions like shared cooling spaces should be built into urban planning.
Way forward
- Cooling is now a developmental necessity — but also an environmental and energy emergency. How we choose to cool will shape not only our physical comfort but also our economic resilience and environmental future.