June 12 (Punjab Khabarnama) : Due to the intense heat, the sale of cooling equipment has increased across the country. There has been a record jump in the sale of air conditioners (ACs) and refrigerators. This year, about 1 crore 10 lakh ACs are expected to be sold. New people from small towns and villages are buying it, as well as the demand of people already existing in the cities is also increasing. According to the World Energy Outlook 2023, AC purchases in the country have increased threefold since 2010 and now there are 24 AC units in every 100 homes. India’s demand for electricity is increasing due to these devices. The use of cooling equipment in homes has led to more electricity consumption in the evening, earlier the highest consumption was during office hours.
Since ACs, refrigerators have now become a necessity, concerns are being raised about their impact on the environment. Environmental experts have repeatedly pointed out that as more cooling equipment is installed, the surrounding heat increases. Hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) are the main chemical gases used in coolants, which have been proven to damage the ozone layer.
In India, electricity saving devices get stars, which has been spread awareness about. Also, India has signed a world agreement (Montreal Protocol) so that it uses less polluting gases, but running more cooling equipment will still heat the environment.
Growing cooling equipment market
Running AC is increasing electricity consumption in the country. Currently 10 percent of electricity is used to run cooling equipment, which is 21 percent more than in 2019. According to a report, by 2050, the number of people using AC in homes in India will increase 9 times. That is, electricity consumption will also increase 9 times.
Currently, out of every 100 houses in India, only 8 houses have AC. But, this number is increasing very fast. This year, around 1 crore 10 lakh ACs are expected to be sold. According to the director of a company, most ACs are being bought for the first time and the people buying them are from small towns or villages. The reason for such rapid sale of ACs is that people have now started considering these things as their right.
But, one problem is that cheap ACs consume more electricity and are also harmful to the environment. The more stars an AC has, the less electricity it will consume and the less harm it will cause to the environment.
A survey revealed that currently most companies are using HFC gas. Although companies want to switch to gases that cause less harm to the environment, no company is currently using HC or CO2 gas. Some companies are using NH3 (ammonia) and water. According to the report, currently there are very few cooling equipment in the market that cause less harm to the environment.
India is currently in the third phase of the process of replacing cooling equipment gases. The CFC gas that was used earlier has been completely discontinued. HCFC gas will be phased out in India by 2030. Along with this, HFC gas, which is ozone-depleting and warms the atmosphere, will also be gradually reduced.
