Solar cooling technologies for emerging markets

The energy demand for air-conditioning is growing faster than any other energy consumption in buildings. The main share of the projected growth for space cooling comes from emerging economies and will more than triple by 2050 to 6,000 TWh/a globally. The undisputed rationales for the increase are global economic and population growth and thus rising standards of living. Growth in the demand of cooling is especially driven by countries with high temperatures. Emerging economies like India, China and Indonesia are likely to account for most of the projected increase in energy consumption for cooling, contributing to more than half of the annual growth rates. With the increasing number of conventional vapor compression chillers, greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) are also increasing, both from direct leakages of high Global Warming Potential (GWP) refrigerants, such as HFCs, as well as through indirect emissions related to fossil fuel derived electricity consumption. Therefore, an important driver for solar cooling technology is its potential to reduce GHG and peak electricity demand, particularly in those countries with significant cooling needs with grid constraints. The Keynote will address these issues including potential technical solutions.

This keynote will be moderated by Prof Shireesh Kedare.