Air Conditioning Unavoidable and Urgent Necessity
In the face of soaring temperatures and rising air conditioning (AC) demand, India is taking decisive action to address its "cooling challenge." The India Cooling Action Plan (ICAP), unveiled in 2019, outlines a multi-faceted approach to achieve energy security, reduce emissions, and promote social equity.
Shubhashis Gangopadhyay, a researcher at the Indian Statistical Institute in Kolkata, and Nitin Pai, the founder and director of the Takshashila Institution, recently penned an opinion piece for The Indian Express titled "Best of both sides: AC cooling – a necessity and an emergency." In the article, they argue that air conditioning is both a necessity and an emergency in India due to rising cooling demand and associated challenges.
The ICAP's solutions are categorised into five key areas: energy efficiency and demand management, heat mitigation and urban planning, community and emergency preparedness, innovative financial and technological tools, and policy and regulatory framework.
In energy efficiency and demand management, the ICAP proposes setting AC temperature limits and reducing cooling power demand. New government standards will cap air conditioner temperatures between 20 and 28 degrees Celsius, aiming to reduce peak electricity demand. This measure, coupled with the phasing out of hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) in line with the 2016 Kigali Amendment, could result in electricity savings of up to 6% per degree increase in set temperature, given India's 10 crore AC units, growing by 1.5 crore annually.
Heat mitigation and urban planning solutions include cool roofs, smart surface technologies, urban design, and urban greenery. Applying reflective paints, coatings, or tiles that reflect sunlight and emit heat efficiently can reduce indoor temperatures affordably. Cities like Ahmedabad, Bhubaneswar, Jodhpur, Bangalore, and Delhi have already adopted these measures. The ICAP also promotes transitioning from conventional materials to smart surfaces and limiting hard paved landscapes to reduce urban heat.
Community and emergency preparedness solutions involve heat action plans, early warning systems, cooling shelters, and subsidies. Over 130 cities and 23 states have developed heat action plans inspired by Ahmedabad’s model, which include early warning systems like SMS alerts to prepare communities for heatwaves. Provision of community cooling shelters and subsidies for air conditioners in cities like Delhi, Varanasi, Surat, Bangalore, Mumbai, etc., aim to improve equitable access to cooling.
Innovative financial and technological tools include parametric insurance and IoT-based heat monitoring. Parametric insurance offers fixed payouts triggering immediately after certain heatwave thresholds, enabling rapid emergency response funding. However, adoption faces challenges like trust and costs. IoT-based heat monitoring helps gather real-time heat data for targeted interventions in cities like Bangalore, Delhi, and Surat.
The ICAP also provides a policy and regulatory framework that integrates these measures, promoting green building incentives, heat-resilient urban planning, and water-based cooling methods while encouraging traditional practices such as "blue walling." The plan also aligns with international commitments like the Kigali Amendment to phase out environmentally harmful refrigerants.
Together, these solutions aim to balance energy security by lowering peak electricity demand and cooling energy use, emission mitigation by promoting efficient technologies and phasing out harmful refrigerants, and social equity through subsidies, community cooling infrastructure, and inclusive planning targeting vulnerable populations. As India's urban population is expected to double by 2050, and climatic factors like 11 of India's 15 warmest years occurring after 2010 and heat-wave days tripling since the 1980s are contributing to the cooling challenge, the ICAP's comprehensive approach is essential to ensure a sustainable and equitable future for India.
- The India Cooling Action Plan (ICAP) emphasizes the importance of addressing the "cooling challenge" in India, which is exacerbated by rising temperatures and increasing air conditioning (AC) demand.
- The ICAP proposes a variety of solutions, including energy efficiency and demand management, heat mitigation and urban planning, community and emergency preparedness, innovative financial and technological tools, and policy and regulatory framework.
- In terms of energy efficiency, the ICAP suggests setting AC temperature limits and reducing cooling power demand, with the aim of saving electricity and reducing emissions.
- Heat mitigation solutions, such as cool roofs, smart surface technologies, and urban greenery, are proposed to help reduce indoor temperatures and combat the urban heat island effect.
