What Is The Role Of HVAC In Achieving Net-Zero Emissions By 2050?

Air Conditioning accounts for 3.9% of greenhouse gas emissions. Further, as economic prosperity improves, the demand for A/C is accelerating. Unfortunately, there are very few advanced technologies that can reduce the energy used by or the climate impact of, the systems keeping us comfortable in hot and humid climates. Reducing the carbon intensity of the grid will help, but it won’t be enough, and it won’t be fast enough, to get to net zero without a change in the technologies we use for cooling. To minimize the total carbon emissions on the path to net-zero we should develop and deploy as much reliable, cost-effective, advanced technology as we can. Liquid desiccant A/C will be part of that picture, but we need as many new ideas as we can get! 

Heat in buildings accounts for 23% of UK carbon emissions, with 74% of that figure coming from our homes. Decarbonizing this demand is an essential component in the UK's roadmap to net zero. The replacement of gas boilers with heat pumps is expected to be the solution for most UK homes, thereby transferring this demand from the gas grid to the power grid. This is not without challenges. Modeling by Imperial College shows that a 90% heat pump adoption rate in homes would result in more than a doubling of the total UK peak power demand. That's before you factor in other decarbonizing sectors, such as transport, agriculture, and industry. Position that increase in power demand alongside a move to intermittent renewable power generation, in particular from wind during the heating season, and you create a large requirement for demand flexibility on the power system. This is where HVAC can play an essential role. Through the intelligent control of HVAC systems, the power demand can be flexed to support the decarbonizing power system. The Government forecasts over 50GW of flexibility will be required by 2050. That's equivalent to 75% of the UK's total generation capacity today. Providing such services will be critical to keeping the lights on and will create new value streams for consumers that offer up their flexibility through their smart HVAC systems. Passiv has delivered numerous demonstrations of such capabilities, and new services like our Greener Grid Payments are turning this future vision into today's reality, with consumers receiving grid payments because of their heat pumps making automated decisions to support the grid. 

The HVAC industry is heavily driven by regulatory changes — most notably the Kigali amendment to the Montreal Protocol and, in the U.S., the EPA American Innovation and Manufacturing (AIM) Act — encouraging the transition to lower global warming potential (GWP) refrigerants. As a refrigerant manufacturer, Chemours works to provide the industry with refrigerants, such as R-454B (Chemours Opteon XL41), that enable this transition. When engineering these refrigerants, in addition to lowering the GWP, we consider the total equivalent warming impact (TEWI). This means we develop products that will reduce direct and indirect emissions. Direct emissions are related to the refrigerants and their GWP, while indirect emissions are those generated from electricity production needed to operate the HVAC unit during its lifetime. By lowering the TEWI, we help ensure minimal environmental impact as well as the lowest cost of operation for the end user. At the same time, as part of our corporate commitment to sustainability, Chemours implements innovations in our manufacturing sites to reduce our emissions. Our efforts were recently recognized with the US Department of Energy (DOE) “Better Project Award,” which spotlighted outstanding accomplishments at our Corpus Christi, Texas manufacturing site. Here, Chemours is significantly reducing waste in a single-process step and achieving more than $1 million in annual savings on waste disposal costs. I use our achievements as an example of how every player in the HVAC industry can do their part in reducing waste, decreasing their carbon footprint, and enabling sustainable circularity pathways. Through responsible manufacturing of products and a global commitment to adopting the most sustainable products and equipment, the industry can make a significant impact on achieving net-zero emissions. 

Multiple sources highlight that buildings are responsible for about 20% of CO2 emissions. And HVAC systems in their turn can consume up to 60% energy in buildings. So, improving HVAC energy efficiency as well as increasing the share of renewables is essential to reducing emissions in the sector.