How India is solving its cooling challenge

May 15, 2019

Congested air conditioning units on a building in central Mumbai in India on May 21, 2012(Photo by Kuni Takahashi)

The cheap, power-hungry ACs used today are doing more harm than good. Image: Reuters/Kuni Takahashi

Radhika Lalit

Principal, Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI)

Ankit Kalanki

Associate, Rocky Mountain Institute

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Cooling demand versus current AC ownership in different parts of the world. Note: The cooling demand, represented by “Person Cooling Degree Days”, is a function of a country’s average annual cooling degree days multiplied by the respective population.

The crowds cool off during a heatwave in Muradnagar on the outskirts of New Delhi in 2018.

Crowds cool off during a heatwave in Muradnagar on the outskirts of New Delhi in 2018. Image: Reuters/Amit Dave

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