Letter of the President of the Legislative Council

 

Air Conditioning Saves Lives. Scientists Think It Also Might Doom Us All.

 

One of the major reasons we find ourselves in this current climate crisis is because of a near-religious devotion to convenience. For more than a century, scientists have known that burning coal warms the planet, but the finite, energy-dense resource was too convenient a fuel to pass up. Some of the first cars to ever hit the road were clean electric cars, but cars with internal combustion engines were more convenient to mass produce. And so on.

As the planet continues to inch past the 1.5 ºC increase in global temperature—a threshold originally reported by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change as critical to avoiding catastrophic climate impacts—this same dedication to convenience dominates the conversation

Διακοπές στα τσιμεντονήσια: Το φαινόμενο της αστικής θερμικής νησίδας και πώς το αποφεύγουμε

Για τον έναν στους δύο Έλληνες που δεν θα πάει διακοπές φέτος το καλοκαίρι, το φαινόμενο της αστικής θερμικής νησίδας φροντίζει να τον μεταφέρει νοερά σε τροπικές ζώνες, με άσφαλτο και τσιμέντο αντί για βλάστηση.

Πρόκειται για ένα φαινόμενο που το γνωρίζουμε πολύ καλά όσοι ζούμε σε πυκνοκατοικημένες περιοχές, ακόμα και αν δεν ξέρουμε πώς να το ονομάσουμε. Η αστική θερμική νησίδα

BUILD UP Expert Talk - Matthaios Santamouris

 

We can’t air-condition our way out of a hotter future, says UNSW expert

 A new global review argues passive cooling technology must become central to climate adaptation.

As temperatures rise around the world, air conditioning is saving lives. But a growing reliance on it is also placing unprecedented pressure on electricity grids, increasing greenhouse gas emissions and making cities even hotter.

A global review led by UNSW Sydney's Professor Mat Santamouris AM – an expert in innovative heat mitigation technologies and strategies for cities, opens in a new window – argues that keeping buildings cool without relying solely on air conditioning will be critical for adapting to climate change.

Cities cannot outrun hotter climates with air-con alone

Air-conditioning units flying off shelves worries Australian urban heat expert Mat Santamouris.

With 10 systems purchased every second worldwide, the University of NSW professor fears the cooling technology has become the default response to rising global temperatures.

"We cannot air-condition our way out of climate change," he said.

"If every building depends entirely on mechanical cooling, we create enormous pressure on electricity systems while adding even more heat to our cities."

Passive cooling for the built environment

Passive cooling technologies reduce heat and solar gains in buildings and public spaces while dissipating excess heat. This approach could reduce impacts of mechanical air conditioning, which has environmental impacts and consumes electricity, contributing to peak demand and grid stress. In this Review, we discuss advances in passive cooling technologies, focusing on smart solar control, ventilation, and radiative, evaporative and hybrid dissipation systems.