[TD] It’s a real vicious circle. The hotter it gets, the more air conditioners we use... and the more air conditioners we use, the hotter it gets. Because yes, air conditioners refresh us but they also contribute, paradoxically, to the climatic disturbance of the planet. These devices consume a lot of electricity. The latter is today mainly generated by gas or coal-fired power plants and these emit greenhouse gases that contribute to climate change.A report published Tuesday, May 15, 2018 by the International Energy Agency, ensures that unless a radical change of trajectory is implemented, carbon dioxide emissions related to air conditioning should almost double between 2016 and 2050. By comparison it’s like adding Africa’s CO2 emissions, about one billion tonnes of CO2 a year, to the CO2 emissions of the rest of the planet. And in cities, the warming effect of air conditioners is all the more felt. Indeed, each device rejects in the street the heat it has produced to cool the interior of a room.
The vicious circle is reinforced by the continuous rise in the standard of living in the world. Starting with China, India and Indonesia, three countries that will contribute half of the global rise in electricity consumption for air conditioning.