Households Tend to Buy Inefficient Air Conditioners
If the number of AC units in the world triples by 2050, will energy demand triple, too?
It depends on how efficient they are. You might assume that the solution is to engineer more efficient air conditioners. That’s certainly part of it. However, we can also do a lot to curb energy demand by ensuring people buy the most efficient options today.
The IEA estimates that globally, people buy AC units that are half as efficient as what is already available in stores.
In the chart below, you can see the efficiency of air conditioners across various markets. The dark line shows the average AC unit sold in each market, and the light gray box shows the range of efficiencies commercially available. In high and middle-income countries, people are opting for AC units at the lower end.
The IEA estimates that in a baseline scenario, global electricity use for AC would increase from 2,000 TWh today to more than 6,000 TWh in 2050. If people were to buy efficient units that are already available — doubling the average efficiency of sold AC units — we could reduce this extra demand by about 45%. Electricity use would only double rather than triple.