“The world’s supply of A/C units could increase from about 900 million in 2015 to roughly 1.6 billion by 2030.”

By Linn Smith

August 20, 2017—-If solar airplanes can fly, then maybe it’s time we look at solar for our air conditioning. According to a 2016 study at Berkeley National Laboratory, nations with emerging economies and spiking populations, including heavily populated India, are seeing air conditioner sales grow 10 to 15 percent a year.

What does the increase in air conditioning mean for our warming planet? The world’s supply of A/C units could increase from about 900 million in 2015 to roughly 1.6 billion by 2030. The Berkeley study says new technologies must take the place of hydroflourocarbons, (HFCs), found in most air conditioners. HFCs are growing rapidly in our atmosphere with a potential to increase the greenhouse effect faster than carbon dioxide, because they trap heat in our atmosphere at levels 1000 times greater than CO2.

Rwanda Climate Conference

In 2016, 200 nations gathered for the United Nations summit meeting on climate change. Negotiators created a deal to ban the use of HFCs in air conditioners and refrigerators, with finalization at the Kigali, Rwanda climate conference a few months later. 170 countries successfully negotiated an amendment to the Montreal protocol treaty to get rid of 90% of the HFCs. Developed counties will begin phasing out HFCs in 2019, China in 2024, and India and other counties in 2028.

Nearly all HFCs are made by a few giant western chemical companies, including Flame Guard USA in Illinois, GMC Aircon in South Africa, and OB-1 Air Analyses, Inc. in California.

Reducing HFCs

The search is on for clean technologies to take the place of HFCs. In Australia, the Solar Hybrid Air Conditioner is offered by the company, EcoWorld. EcoWorld claims you can stay cool without the huge energy bill. This unit costs about $2700AU or $2000 U.S. dollars. You can see it at http://www.ecoworld.com.

They state:

1. Hands down this is the cheapest-to-run 3.5kW Split System Air Conditioner you can buy.
2. Stay Cool or Warm without the huge energy bills. Use it more often without regrets.
3. Pays for itself, in energy savings alone, within 7 months of running time.
4. Runs automatically between both Solar DC Power and 240V AC Mains.
5. 12000 BTU Performance without costing the earth.
6. As the sun goes down it transitions over to the mains power supply.
7. Comes with a 6 Year Australian Warranty when installed by a certified air conditioner installer.
8. Rated to cool or heat around 30-40 square meters.
9. Filters pollen particles from the air and can also dehumidify your space.
10. Helps to reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions back at the power station.
11. Highly efficient and feature packed 3.5kW split system inverter air conditioner.
12. Uses 1kW of solar panels (typically 4 x 250W panels in series).
13. When running together with the solar panels it uses as little as 30W of 240V AC mains power which is virtually nothing compared to standard air conditioners.

Can we wait until 2019, 2024 or 2028 to cut HFCs? Will it be too late? Now is the time to take a step towards saving our planet! New technologies must replace fossil fuels and chemicals, such as HFCs, that contaminate our atmosphere!

Reduce HFCs in our atmosphere.

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