The AC Paradox

-

We have three air conditioners in our flat. We don’t use them very often. No, let me clarify further. We use ACs a lot less than my friends and our neighbours do. However, as global warming gets worse, ACs are an easy solution which actually worsens the problem in the long run.

By 2050, India will be among the first places where temperatures will cross survivability limits, according to climate experts. And within that time frame, the demand for air conditioners (AC) in the country is also expected to rise nine-fold, outpacing all other appliances, according to a recent report by the International Energy Agency (IEA).

Apparently, Singapore’s founding father thought air conditioning was the secret to his country’s success. My parents tell me that when they were young, in the 1970s and 1980s, air conditioning was a rarity in India, especially among the middle-classes, mainly because it was unaffordable. Now the prices of AC units are a lot more affordable and in India, middle-class incomes have gone up. Along with the temperature!

I wish we could all cut down on AC usage, though I do know that many of us function much more efficiently, especially in summers, with the AC on!

What’s the solution?

  • To use fans as much as possible? I’m told by my father that all corporate offices have air conditioning as a matter of course and no fans at all.
  • Encourage people, especially men, to avoid suits and ties and to wear half-sleeve shirts?
  • Better ventilation?

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Bicycle Stories From Montpellier

-
Image
  I’m in Montpellier, Southern France, for a month, to attend an intensive French language immersion course at the Accent Francais . I have classes five days a week, 3:15 hours a day on Mondays and Fridays and 4:45 hours on Tuesday, Wednesdays and Thursdays. I stay with a landlady who speaks only French. Weekends are mine and yesterday, I rented a bicycle for the day (paying € 15 for the pleasure) and cycled in and around Montpellier for around five hours. I found it very easy to cycle in Montpellier. Though I am used to cycling on the left and out here I have to cycle on the right, I found the going very smooth. There are cycling lanes everywhere and even if there isn’t a cycling path, bicycles are treated like any other vehicle on the road. I followed the traffic signals like every other driver on the road and felt very safe.  I had lunch at an open air restaurant, with my bicycle propped up against a nearby railing. I returned my cycle at 6:30 pm and walked back to my flat. A co
Read more

Cycling to La Grande Motte From Montpellier

-
Image
Last Saturday, I once again rented a bicycle for the day and cycled to La Grande Motte, approximately around 22 kilometres from Montpellier.  The cycling track from Montpellier to La Grande-Motte has two tracks, one asphalt/tar and the other mud, except in certain sections where it is only mud.  I largely stuck with the asphalt path. La Grande-Motte is a smallish town by the sea. It’s a port as well and I read somewhere on the internet that it was built in the 1960s and 1970s.  La Grande-Motte is known for its architecture with a number of prominent buildings shaped like pyramids.  However, I didn’t spend much time admiring the architecture, instead, I relaxed on the beach. Here are a few more snaps from  La Grande-Motte.
Read more

Fixing the Floorboards (Fiction)

-
  I live in a rather old house. Vines have crept up its blackened, decayed sides and twisted themselves into an intricate maze. Blood red roses grow on large sprawling bushes in a wild, maundering fashion. At night, the moon throws an ethereal, almost ghoulish glow over the landscape, casting parts of it into soft, muted shadow. The dead trees outside sway melancholically in the gentle breeze. My friends called me crazy for buying this dilapidated mansion. It is far from town, and completely isolated. The neighborhood is practically deserted. The truth is, it was offered to me for almost nothing. The original owners left in quite a hurry. They seemed frightened, speaking of “strange happenings” and “mysterious voices”. People really do get into a tizzy over nothing. Frankly, I’m not the crazy one for accepting a deal as good as this.  I’ll admit, when laid stark and bare in the cold light of day, my residence appears unseemly. The cracked, peeling paint is the only sign of its former g
Read more