(Update June 2026 – see also Percentage of households having an air conditioner – Coldstreams)
Emissions from both the refrigerants and the energy used in cooling now account for about 7% of global greenhouse gas emissions and are expected to triple by 2050 as temperatures continue to rise, according to the Clean Cooling Collaborative non-profit group.
Kerry and others at the conference argue that as the planet warms, air-conditioner usage will ramp up, and therefore, so will emissions. Installed capacity is set to triple by mid-century, driven by climbing temperatures, growing populations and rising incomes, according to research released by the United Nations.
John Kerry pledges to slash emissions from AC units, refrigerators to fight climate change (msn.com)
We do not have a way to cut those emissions by 68% in 25 years, so, presumably, we need to ban air conditioning. Sorry Arizona, Florida, and Texas – well, the whole South – but it is a necessary sacrifice for the common good.
My little used heat pump AC system is powered by our solar PV, but that is probably not good enough either!
I was joking when I wrote the above but then I re-read this – and they are not joking:
“People will buy a very cheap air conditioner produced somewhere in Asia for 100 bucks and plug it in,” said Jürgen Fischer, president of climate solutions at Danish multinational Danfoss which specializes in heating and cooling.
“That will load the energy system a lot, and there will be a collapse. I don’t think it’s a good idea to allow these individual plug-ins anymore,” he said.
That sounds like we need to ban EVs, electric water heaters and electric heating too, doesn’t it?
Update: In June of 2026, AC is in the news as Europe swelters with a heat wave – with temperatures still less than what we routinely have in much of the U.S. during the summer. France is odd – about 90% of their electrical power comes from nuclear and renewable/non carbon sources – but France does not want people to use AC because “climate change”. So … a lot of people in the EU die each year due to heat related causes even though they don’t use carbon fuel sources for most of their electricity; instead, they let people die. This does not make sense. Charts here: Percentage of households having an air conditioner – Coldstreams
Also, winter time heating uses far more energy than summer time cooling – heating is okay but cooling is not okay?
