Cooling Karnataka - An Expert Roundtable on Sustainable Space Cooling for the State

The escalating climate crisis is altering weather patterns and intensifying extreme heat globally, with India particularly affected. Over the past two decades, Karnataka has also witnessed an increasing trend in temperature during March-to-June, especially in the North Interior and Coastal Karnataka districts. Alarmingly, 15 of that state’s 31 districts are vulnerable to heatwaves. The annual increase in summer temperatures and the growing frequency of heat waves are transforming access to cooling from a luxury to a necessity.

However, traditional space cooling technologies are energy-intensive and have a significant impact on the environment. Rising temperatures and improving living standards are increasing room air conditioner sales significantly. The Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change’s (MoEFCC) India Cooling Action Plan (ICAP), introduced in 2019, projects an 11 % average annual growth in AC sales between 2017 and 2037. This growing AC stock can contribute significantly to both energy consumption and peak demand, especially during the summer. Karnataka’s energy department has forecasted a 5% increase in electricity demand and a peak demand of 18 GW in 2025 in view of increasing temperatures in the state. The sudden peak demand during summers can lead to costlier short-term power procurement, utilization of fossil fuel-based electricity, and in the worst case – grid disruption.

Further, even for a city like Bangalore, in the moderate climate zone, where temperatures usually remain below 30 degrees C in summer, temperatures have been steadily increasing for the last few years. Rapid urbanization, followed by exponential growth in built-up areas, loss of vegetation, and decline in water bodies, is causing this to worsen. Thermal discomfort in urban areas leading to increased AC usage can create a vicious circle of increasing temperatures and higher release of waste heat from ACs into the urban atmosphere. This creates particularly severe heat challenges for people living in slums and informal households.

This growing urgency brings to the forefront the need for sustainable cooling in the state. The ICAP recommends measures including reducing the demand for cooling through passive cooling measures and promoting energy-efficient cooling technologies through strong implementation of building energy codes at the state level. Karnataka’s Energy Conservation and Energy Efficiency Policy 2022-27 also recommends actions on space cooling, including fast-tracking the Energy Conservation Building Code (ECBC), Eco Niwas Samhita, and promoting energy-efficient cooling appliances to save energy.

Recognizing the need to discuss sustainable space cooling strategies that put energy efficiency and thermal comfort at the center, KREDL, as the state designated agency (SDA) for promoting energy efficiency, is organizing this expert roundtable in partnership with WRI India.

Objectives of the Roundtable

The roundtable aims to foster a dialogue on sustainable cooling among various government and non-government stakeholders within the state. The roundtable aims to focus on the following areas:

• To evaluate the current initiatives and technologies that address thermal discomfort, heat stress, and space cooling in Karnataka. This will identify the opportunities available and the challenges that need to be overcome to implement effective cooling strategies.
• To discuss the best practices and innovative approaches adopted by other states to promote sustainable space cooling. These examples will provide valuable insights that can be adapted to the Karnataka context.
• To outline potential pathways for Karnataka's future efforts in this domain.

The roundtable aims to facilitate continuing conversations on sustainable cooling in Karnataka, with the long-term objective of translating these into tangible actions for the leadership and other stakeholders.

Format of the Roundtable

The duration of the roundtable is 3 hours. The deliberations will be divided into three rounds:

• First round: Current state of space cooling in Karnataka (50 minutes)
• Second round: Sharing the learnings from other states (50 minutes)
• Third round: Call for action (50 minutes)

For each round, WRI India will set the context for the topics being discussed and pose questions to key discussants for that round. Discussants will be invited to speak on 2-3 questions during each round and will be given 5-10 minutes to respond to the question (subject to timekeeping).