Green Cooling Solutions in India by 2040

Investment prospects in India's cooling sector through less carbon-intensive technology might total USD 1.6 trillion, according to the World Bank Group paper "Climate Investment Opportunities in India's Cooling Sector."

Highlights of the Report

The research included recommendations for how to prioritise the government's investment potential in the cooling sector based on analysis of the India Cooling Action Plan (ICAP), which was introduced in 2019. Since just 40% of Indians, will have air conditioning by 2040 (which is about 8% of the Indian population today), passive cooling solutions must be the main focus for the remaining population. Investment opportunities in the construction, cold chains, and refrigerants industries have the potential to dramatically lower greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions as well as generate up to 3.7 million new employment. The country's 34 million workers could lose their employment as a result of heat stress and the ensuing drop in output. There will already be many more severe heat waves like the one India saw in 2022 as the globe is already headed in that direction. In a world where temperatures are expected to rise by two to three degrees, heat stress will likely worsen significantly.

Recommendations

• Sustainable Space Cooling:
  By 2040, green space cooling strategies might cut annual GHG emissions by 213 metric tonnes of CO2-equivalent. By improving the efficiency of cooling technology such air conditioners, ceiling fans, and chillers, which can save 30% energy by 2037–2038, this can be accomplished.

• Passive Cooling Strategies:
  By 2038, passive cooling techniques for urban structures can cut energy use by 20–30%. One degree of building temperature reduction could result in a two to four percent reduction in peak cooling electricity use. The three housing solutions you can adopt are 
  • 1) Usage of lime and mud mortar instead of cement:
    A structure is given room to breathe by combining naturally occurring stone and bricks with mud mortar (instead of cement to bind bricks) and lime (instead of cement to bind tiles). A particularly fascinating substance is lime. It is more thermally insulating and recyclable at the same time.
  • 2) Heat resilient rooftops:
    For low-income homes in India, the Mahila Housing Trust, a women-led non-profit supported by SEWA, discovered a novel home cooling solution in the heat-resistant rooftops known as Modroofs created by Hasit Ganatra, the founder of the sustainable roofing company Rematerials. Rematerials' flagship product, Modroofs, is a water-proof modular roof constructed of coconut husk and paper waste that lowers inside temperatures and offers an environmentally friendly alternative to RCC roofs. According to a story in The Better India, they can be easily taken apart and put back together.
  • 3) Traditional design:
    Sometimes, it has less to do with materials and more to do with how a home is designed. The residence of his uncle was renovated by the renowned Keralan architect Vinu Daniel in a fairly unusual way. He included traditional Kerala home design elements like the Nadumuttam (a traditional open courtyard) for his renowned Valsal cottage in addition to using Compressed Stabilized Earth Bricks (CSEBs), which are essentially mud blocks, and a full wall built of beer bottle jaalis.

• Thermal Comfort:
  The Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana, the government's programme for affordable housing, ought to include a thermal comfort initiative (PMAY). The government aims to build 29 million homes in rural areas and over 11 million in urban areas, and these homes could provide thermal comfort through passive cooling systems. This would also guarantee that those most impacted by rising temperatures do not suffer unjustly.

• District Cooling Systems (DCS):
  DCS are far more effective centralised cooling methods for groups of buildings as opposed to individual structures.
  The use of district cooling should be required in high-density apartment buildings. DCS produces chilled water in a central facility that can subsequently be delivered via underground insulated pipes to numerous buildings.

• Cold Chain and Refrigeration:
  It is suggested that investments in strategies to close gaps in the cold chain distribution networks employ concessional financing from Multilateral Development Banks like the World Bank. Such expenditures can lower carbon emissions by 16% while reducing food loss by roughly 76%.