• About
    • Which Energy Mix is this?
  • Climate News Network Archive
  • Contact
Celebrating our 1,000th edition. The climate news you need
No Result
View All Result
The Energy Mix
  • Canada
  • UK & Europe
  • Fossil Fuels
  • Ending Emissions
  • Community Climate Finance
  • Clean Electricity Grid
  • Cities & Communities
SUBSCRIBE
DONATE
  • Canada
  • UK & Europe
  • Fossil Fuels
  • Ending Emissions
  • Community Climate Finance
  • Clean Electricity Grid
  • Cities & Communities
SUBSCRIBE
DONATE
No Result
View All Result
The Energy Mix
No Result
View All Result
  FEATURED
EXCLUSIVE: Hydrogen is Up, Pieridae is Out as German Chancellor Preps for Canada Visit August 15, 2022
Historic Climate Bill Passes U.S. House, Goes to Biden for Signature August 15, 2022
BREAKING: U.S. Senate Passes Historic $369B Climate Package August 7, 2022
Researchers Point To ‘Dangerously Unexplored’ Risk of Global Climate Catastrophe August 2, 2022
Koch Network Pressures Manchin, Sinema as Advocates Praise ‘Game Changing’ Climate Deal August 2, 2022
Next
Prev

New Cooling Technologies Could Reduce Carbon Impact of Air Conditioning

August 3, 2021
Reading time: 3 minutes

ElasticComputeFarm/pixabay

ElasticComputeFarm/pixabay

1
SHARES
 

Passive cooling and other innovations can play a critical role in lowering air conditioner energy use during heat waves, experts say—but barriers remain for some communities to gain access to these cooling solutions.

“Running an air conditioner is just trying to solve a problem that it is also worsening,” building scientist Alexandra Rampel told the Washington Post. AC units account for 6% of annual U.S. electricity use, and currently emit 117 million tonnes CO2 per year—an amount only expected to increase as the climate warms. That has experts looking for ways to reduce the energy it takes to keep living space cool.

Rampel is exploring ways to maintain low temperatures through passive cooling methods, such as the strategic use of shade, ventilation, and certain building materials. “On a warming planet, passive cooling can help protect people without access to air conditioning and lighten the load on the electrical grid from those who do,” explains the Post.

Alternatively—or maybe concurrently—the air conditioning industry is pursuing energy conservation through innovative technologies. “Whether it’s reducing the energy demands of air conditioning units, installing heat pumps that replace traditional AC and can cool the air as well as warm it, or offering ‘smart’ thermostats that save energy by automatically adjusting temperatures and fans to a homeowner’s preferred comfort levels, it’s clear we’ll need a multi-pronged approach,” writes the Toronto Star. 

That approach so far includes contributions from private companies as well as support from Canada’s federal government. One Toronto-based company has become a leader in smart thermostats that “calibrate a building’s heating and cooling based on occupancy and variable electricity prices,” the Star says. By controlling temperatures to avoid AC use at peak demand, these thermostats can cut energy bills by up to 26%. Other innovations, like heat pumps and membranes to improve AC efficiency, are also promising.

Ottawa is offering subsidies toward home retrofits for some of the more expensive options, and some utilities have rebates for customers who install energy efficient cooling technologies.

But despite advancing knowledge in cooling solutions, “the problem of deadly temperatures is too big to be addressed person by person, home by home,” says the Post. Larger problems, like the urban heat island (UHI) effect, can undermine individual efforts to control indoor building temperatures.

Like passive cooling, UHIs arise from design factors—but at a much larger scale. At the municipal level, taller buildings, narrower urban “canyons”, less plant cover, more paved surfaces, and more waste heat from human activities can increase mid-day temperatures. As one example, the Post notes points to some inner-city areas of Phoenix, Arizona, where temperatures can be more than 5°C hotter than in parts of the city that have less of these heat-trapping features. 

The UHI effect is also most likely to affect low-income communities of colour, where people are more likely to live in neighbourhoods with lots of paved areas, sparse vegetation, and less access to air conditioning. And, due to historic redlining, there are few building regulations in place that could mitigate the effects, such as summer insulation, or windows that can open.

“We really need to be intervening with buildings and neighbourhoods to make them more survivable,” Rempel told the Post.



in Buildings, Canada, Cities & Communities, Climate & Society, Climate Impacts & Adaptation, Demand & Distribution, Demographics, Energy Access & Equity, Energy Subsidies, Health & Safety, Heat & Temperature, Jurisdictions, United States

The latest climate news and analysis, direct to your inbox

Subscribe

Related Posts

Suncor Energy Plant_Max and Dee Bernt:Flickr
Ending Emissions

Fossils Would ‘Bust the Paris Agreement’ with Inadequate Decarbonization Plans

August 18, 2022
2
Ken Hodge/Flickr
Oil & Gas

No Path for Canadian LNG Exports to Europe, IISD Analysis Concludes

August 18, 2022
3
Steve Jurvetson/flickr
International Security & War

The Other Kind of Climate Change: Even a ‘Limited’ Nuclear War Would Trigger Starvation, Kill Billions

August 18, 2022
75

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

I agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy.

Trending Stories

Brocken Inaglory/wikimedia commons

State-Wide Megastorm Driven by Global Heating Could Drench California for a Month

August 15, 2022
1.1k
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Coal_Carbon_Capture_Technology_In_Use.png

Carbon Capture a ‘Dangerous Distraction’, 500 Organizations Warn Canada, U.S.

July 23, 2021
617
TGEGASENGINEERING/Wikimedia Commons

EXCLUSIVE: Hydrogen is Up, Pieridae is Out as German Chancellor Preps for Canada Visit

August 15, 2022
1.1k
Vinaykumar8687/WikimediaCommons

Solar On Track for ‘Staggering’ 30% Growth This Year

August 15, 2022
315
Early stages of construction on the Flamanville 3 nuclear reactor in France

Failing French Nuclear Plants Drive Up Electricity Costs as Heat Waves Cut Production

August 14, 2022
753
rawpixel

Common Medications Foil Body’s Ability to Cope with Hot Weather

August 15, 2022
205

Recent Posts

Suncor Energy Plant_Max and Dee Bernt:Flickr

Fossils Would ‘Bust the Paris Agreement’ with Inadequate Decarbonization Plans

August 18, 2022
2
Ken Hodge/Flickr

No Path for Canadian LNG Exports to Europe, IISD Analysis Concludes

August 18, 2022
3
Steve Jurvetson/flickr

The Other Kind of Climate Change: Even a ‘Limited’ Nuclear War Would Trigger Starvation, Kill Billions

August 18, 2022
75
kris krüg/flickr

Guilbeault Considering Alternatives to Releasing Toxic Tailings into Athabasca River

August 18, 2022
2
Ford F-150 LIghtning

U.S. Utility Plans to Draw Power from Ford Electric Pickups

August 18, 2022
2
power pylons sunrise grid

Midwestern U.S. Grid Investment Supports Massive Increase in Renewables

August 18, 2022
3
Next Post
Pixnio

‘Cloud Feedback’ Could Increase Climate Warming

The Energy Mix

Copyright 2022 © Smarter Shift Inc. and Energy Mix Productions Inc. All rights reserved.

Navigate Site

  • About
  • Contact
  • Privacy Policy and Copyright
  • Cookie Policy

Follow Us

No Result
View All Result
  • Canada
  • UK & Europe
  • Fossil Fuels
  • Ending Emissions
  • Community Climate Finance
  • Clean Electricity Grid
  • Cities & Communities

Copyright 2022 © Smarter Shift Inc. and Energy Mix Productions Inc. All rights reserved.

Manage Cookie Consent
To provide the best experiences, we use technologies like cookies to store and/or access device information. Consenting to these technologies will allow us to process data such as browsing behaviour or unique IDs on this site. Not consenting or withdrawing consent, may adversely affect certain features and functions.
Functional Always active
The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network.
Preferences
The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.
Statistics
The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes. The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
Marketing
The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes.
Manage options Manage services Manage vendors Read more about these purposes
View preferences
{title} {title} {title}