The Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, a specialist in international energy, says that India has four of the five most populous cities with the highest cooling requirements in “cooling degree days,” a measure of the number of degrees above 65º surpassed in a year, and is “poised for an explosion in room air conditioning that may require as many as 300 new electric power plants in the next 10 to 15 years.”
At a seminar hosted by the Stanford Precourt Institute of Energy, Dr. Nikit Abhyankar, a senior scientific engineering associate at the Berkeley Lab who leads the International Energy Studies Group’s work on the Indian power sector, said, “All the cities [in India] are very hot and very populous, which means that going forward, as people get richer, the demand for room air conditioning is going to be increasing.” Abhyankar adds that with the right policy support from the Indian government, India could innovate in manufacturing far more efficient air conditioner models that use refrigerants that do not contribute to global warming.
Forbes reports that air conditioning is expected to double the country’s electricity demand in 15 years, requiring 300 new electric plants just to keep Indians cool. Air conditioning is part of the reason India is expected to be the world’s largest contributor to new electricity demand between now and 2040.
