More than a third of all the electricity consumed in the
United Arab Emirates goes to one simple, yet essential task – keeping us cool.
That soars to as much as 70 percent during summer. In sweltering countries with
poor electricity systems, such as Iraq or
Lebanon, the lack of air conditioning
is a threat not just to comfort, but to survival.
اضافة اعلان
Climate change is accelerating this challenge. Average UAE
temperatures have climbed from about 27.5°C in the 1950s to over 28°C in the 2000s, and above 29°C in 2021. Iraq has heated up nearly three degrees
since the 1980s. The extreme heat events affecting southern Europe, and parts
of the
United States and China demonstrate that demand for cooler air is only
going to increase globally.
Urbanization, the loss of vegetation and surface water, and
the proliferation of brick, concrete, and asphalt surfaces that absorb heat and
re-radiate it at night, make cities even hotter than the average, and give
people little relief even when the sun sets.
In sweltering countries with poor electricity systems, such as Iraq or Lebanon, the lack of air conditioning is a threat not just to comfort, but to survival
In the Gulf, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Oman and Bahrain have
committed to net-zero carbon targets between 2050 and 2060, and the entire
Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region is under increasing pressure to
decarbonize. Yet expanding populations, more and bigger buildings, and surging
middle class lifestyles require more electricity, and gas and oil combustion
remains the main means of producing it – burning money to cool homes but heat
the planet.
Wealthy GCC states can, and will, grow increasingly reliant
on
solar, wind, and nuclear power. But this is impossible for a country like
Iraq, where the population rises by a million each year and where peak
electricity production capacity is only 22GW when 35GW is needed in summer.
There are about 60 million A/C units in the Middle East
today, and the International Energy Agency sees that growing to 210 million by
2050. The growth will be even more dramatic in populous countries now reaching
middle-income status, such as India and Indonesia. The MENA region certainly
needs more
air conditioning, but it also needs to be much more intelligent
about how it manages its increasingly extreme temperatures.
Four broad approaches can help us keep cool at a reasonable
cost to pocket and planet. The first is more mindful behavior – not cooling
unused rooms, shading windows from the sun, minimizing cooling while away,
using fans rather than chillers when temperatures aren’t too high, and not
cooling indoor spaces to
Arctic levels. Reforming energy subsidies, encouraging
consumers to pay a fair price for power, and charging more at peak periods are
frugal strategies for people, governments, and the environment.
Average UAE temperatures have climbed from about 27.5°C in the 1970s to over 30 degrees today, and are predicted to rise another two degrees by the end of the century
Second comes better air conditioning technology. This can be
as simple as using the most energy-efficient models on the market. Better
control systems can avoid pointlessly cooling empty areas, for example, by
connecting a single exterior unit to two indoor units and managing the flow
between them intelligently. Many modern units use hydrofluorocarbons, which are
powerful greenhouse gases, and often leak, but can be replaced with
non-warming alternatives.
New ideas are promising. American companies Transaera and
Bill Gates-backed Blue Frontier, for example, use salts or sponge-like
materials to remove humidity from the air before cooling it, reducing energy
use by up to 70 percent. Barocal, developed at Cambridge University, has
developed cheap, non-toxic “plastic crystals” that absorb and release heat –
instead of gases – when pressure is applied or removed.
Last June, Strata Manufacturing, the aerospace unit of
Mubadala Investment Company, revealed a partnership with two German companies,
Hyperganic, an artificial intelligence-based engineering system, and EOS, an
industrial 3D printing company. The intention is to develop the world’s most
efficient residential air conditioning system.
Meanwhile, district cooling, where a central plant
distributes cold water, is increasingly adopted in new developments in the GCC.
It can reduce electricity use by about half and has twice the lifetime of
conventional systems. Empower, Emicool, and Tabreed are UAE-based district
cooling providers that are expanding into Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and India. But
it’s somewhat inflexible, better suited to sites with a high population density,
and not easily retrofitted to existing buildings.
A third approach is to make buildings more energy efficient.
Simple fixes include better insulation around windows and doors, shading
exposed areas, and painting dark surfaces white.
Smart systems can cool ahead
of the hottest midday period or before evening when solar generation drops off,
effectively using buildings as thermal batteries to limit load on the grid.
Innovative paints and materials, such as the optical films
developed by SkyCool Systems in the United States, radiate heat into deep space
using wavelengths that can pass through the atmosphere, saving up to 40 percent
in air conditioning energy use.
More than a third of all the electricity consumed in the United Arab Emirates goes to one simple, yet essential task – keeping us cool
Finally, we need to reimagine urban spaces – including by
drawing inspiration from historic Middle Eastern and Mediterranean cities, with
their narrow, shady streets, white-washed facades, shutters, wind towers,
flowing open water, and greenery. Shelters with solar air conditioning and
cooling paints, and naturally cooled walkways and bicycle tracks allow people
to get out of their cars and outdoor workers to recuperate even in the hotter
months.
Working with nature rather than against it has the advantage
of not being totally reliant on technology – and on
uninterrupted electricity.
Investment in innovative air conditioning is miniscule
compared to other green technologies. Last year, just $278 million of venture
capital was spent on cooling our indoor spaces, versus $5.4 billion to solar,
$3 billion to hydrogen, and even $384 million to electric airplanes. MENA, the
hottest populous region in the world, will need more investment, and cool
heads, to seize the air conditioning opportunity.
Robin Mills is CEO of Qamar Energy and author of “The Myth of the Oil Crisis”. Syndication Bureau.
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