Cooling Demand

“Record-shattering temperatures are feeding demand for air conditioning and driving surges in demand for electricity – which can result in a vicious cycle of increased greenhouse gas emissions that in turn make the world even hotter.”

“There are solutions to mitigate both higher energy usage and consumer costs, from stronger standards for air conditioning units to new incentive programmes from grid operators.”

“Demand is rising fastest in emerging and developing economies where fewer households own air conditioners. In the United States and Japan, more than 90% of households have an air conditioner, while in Southeast Asia, only 15% do. That number drops to 5% in India and Africa. In fact, only one in 10 of the 2.8 billion people living in the hottest parts of the world have access to air conditioning or other cooling options in their homes.”

“In Texas, for example, every 1°C increase in the average daily temperature above 24°C drives a rise of about 4% in electricity demand.”

“Swings in demand as a result of changing cooling needs also carry the threat of shortages, restrictions, blackouts and brownouts. This can often mean grid operators need to bring older, inefficient and more polluting power plants online to cope with the spikes in demand.”

“Given the growing pressure on power grids during hotter periods of the year, operators need to adopt new methods to ease the strains. This can include allowing appliances and cooling equipment to adjust their energy consumption based on real-time electricity demand, helping to balance the grid during periods of peak demand while providing consumers with energy cost savings.”