Publication Details

Category Text Publication
Reference Category Journals
DOI 10.1029/2021EF002434
Licence creative commons licence
Title (Primary) Implications of increasing household air conditioning use across the United States under a warming climate
Author Obringer, R.; Nateghi, R.; Maia-Silva, D.; Mukherjee, S.; CR, V.; McRoberts, D.B.; Kumar, R. ORCID logo
Source Titel Earth's Future
Year 2022
Department CHS
Volume 10
Issue 1
Page From e2021EF002434
Language englisch
Topic T5 Future Landscapes
Data and Software links https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.5705824
Supplements https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/action/downloadSupplement?doi=10.1029%2F2021EF002434&file=2021EF002434-sup-0001-Supporting+Information+SI-S01.pdf
https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/action/downloadSupplement?doi=10.1029%2F2021EF002434&file=2021EF002434-sup-0002-Supporting+Information+SI-S02.pdf
Abstract Soaring temperatures and increased occurrence of heatwaves have drastically increased air-conditioning demand, a trend that will likely continue into the future. Yet, the impact of anthropogenic warming on household air conditioning is largely unaccounted for in the operation and planning of energy grids. Here, by leveraging the state-of-the-art in machine learning and climate model projections, we find substantial increases in future residential air conditioning demand across the U.S.—up to 8% with a range of 5-8.5% (13% with a range of 11-15%) after anthropogenic warming of 1.5°C (2.0°C) in global mean temperature. To offset this climate-induced demand, an increase in the efficiency of air conditioners by as much as 8% (±4.5%) compared to current levels is needed; without this daunting technological effort, we estimate that some states will face supply inadequacies of up to 75 million ‘household-days’ (i.e., nearly half a month per average current household) without air conditioning in a 2.0°C warmer world. In the absence of effective climate mitigation and technological adaptation strategies, the U.S. will face substantial increases in air conditioning demand and, in the event of supply inadequacies, there is increased risk of leaving millions without access to space cooling during extreme temperatures.
Persistent UFZ Identifier https://www.ufz.de/index.php?en=20939&ufzPublicationIdentifier=25537
Obringer, R., Nateghi, R., Maia-Silva, D., Mukherjee, S., CR, V., McRoberts, D.B., Kumar, R. (2022):
Implications of increasing household air conditioning use across the United States under a warming climate
Earth Future 10 (1), e2021EF002434 10.1029/2021EF002434