Can China keep the climate cool while its air-conditioning market heats up?
Alan Miller says China’s contribution to climate-agreement quotas is crucial as its population increasingly turns to air conditioners to beat the heat and the nation remains a key player in global sales
Among the many impressive achievements of China’s rapid economic growth has been providing electricity to nearly all of its population, which has improved living standards in many ways. But one unintended consequence of this success has been the extensive use of air conditioning, which poses a potential risk to the global environment in the form of greenhouse gas emissions and climate change.
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In 1990, few Chinese households had an air conditioner. Now the average is one per household. China has become the global leader in producing and using air conditioners, responsible for making 70 per cent of units worldwide and accounting for 35 per cent of global stock, compared with 23 per cent in the United States.
Although air conditioners increase economic productivity, they are also the source of environmental damage. Many are energy inefficient, consuming more power still largely provided by coal, which produces carbon dioxide, the largest source of global warming. They also rely on the use of hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) as refrigerants, which have high global warming potential when released into the atmosphere.
As China’s economy continues to grow, so will the purchase and use of air conditioners. A big potential market is the nearly 200 million low-income urban dwellers in China who are subject to worsening heat extremes, but have limited access to cooling systems. This large group needs to be helped without further adding to the climate threat.
Demand for air conditioners is particularly strong in south China, which suffers from more tropical heat than the north. According to a recent Massachusetts Institute of Technology study, China’s northern plain is also set to become one of the world’s deadliest heatwave zones in the future.
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Chinese Premier Li Keqiang waves as he and European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker (left) and European Council President Donald Tusk (second from left) leave a press conference at the end of an EU-China summit at the European Council in Brussels in June 2017. The EU and China agreed to increase cooperation to fight climate change after President Donald Trump pulled the US out of the Paris climate deal last summer. Photo: AFP
