Accelerating Energy Efficiency Improvements in Room Air Conditioners in India: Potential, Costs-Benefits, and Policies
- Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)
Rising incomes, increasing urbanization, and large cooling demand prompted by India’s hot, humid climate are driving increasing uptake of room air conditioners (ACs). Air conditioning already accounts for 40-60% of summer peak load in large Indian cities such as Delhi and is on track to contribute 140 gigawatts (GW) (~30%) to peak demand in 2030. India’s standards and labeling policies improved the market average efficiency of room ACs by about 35% between 2006 and 2016 (3% per year) even as inflation-adjusted room AC prices continued to decline. In this report, we assess the technical feasibility and costs and benefits of accelerating the efficiency improvement in room ACs in India and discuss policy enhancements needed to achieve this goal. We also describe examples of rapid AC efficiency improvement from Japan and Korea. Driven by appropriate policies and programs, AC efficiency in these countries improved by more than 8% per year, resulting in near-doubling of energy efficiency over seven to ten years while inflationadjusted AC prices declined. We also find that the most efficient room AC sold on the Indian market is almost twice as efficient as the average AC sold on the market in 2015-16. As a result, we conclude that the technology needed to accelerate room AC efficiency in India is available.
- Research Organization:
- Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE Office of Science (SC)
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC02-05CH11231
- OSTI ID:
- 1830081
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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