The Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Organization (Satba) plans to reduce electricity consumption by at least 3,000 megawatts over the next four years.
Mahmoud Kamani, the head of the state-run Satba, made the statement while unveiling new energy labels for swamp coolers in Tehran on Saturday, the Energy Ministry’s news portal said.
“Not only will the new standards help curb power use, but they are also expected to reduce water consumption by 30%,” he said.
Also known as desert cooler and evaporative cooler, swamp coolers can reduce energy consumption as an alternative to compressor-based cooling in arid climates.
According to the official, there are close to 20 million swamp coolers in Iran, accounting for 18 billion kilowatt hours of power and 700 million cubic meters of water used in the country per annum.
“Iranian manufacturers produce about 1 million new coolers per year and as of April, they must comply with the new standards,” he said.
Based on Satba’s new rule, coolers with energy labels “E”, “F” and “G” will be replaced with new labels entitled “A+”, “A++” and “A+++”.
Giving a breakdown on the organization’s plan to curb consumption by 3 gigawatts, he noted that the production of new coolers compliant with new labels will help reduce consumption by 1,200 MW and the rest (1,800 MW) will be achieved by replacing old air-conditioning systems with new devices and substituting incandescent light bulbs with energy efficient lighting systems.
Global Electricity Demand
The growing use of air conditioners in homes and offices around the world will be one of the top drivers of global electricity demand over the next three decades, according to new analysis by the International Energy Agency that stresses the urgent need for policy action to improve cooling efficiency.
A new IEA report titled "The Future of Cooling" shows that without new efficiency standards, the world will be facing a “cold crunch” from growth in cooling demand in the coming decades.
Global energy demand from air conditioners is expected to triple by 2050, requiring new electricity capacity equal to the combined electricity capacity of the United States, the EU and Japan today.
The global stock of air conditioners in buildings will grow to 5.6 billion by 2050, up from the current 1.6 billion, which amounts to 10 new ACs sold every second for the next 30 years, according to the report.
Using air conditioners and electric fans to stay cool already accounts for about a fifth of the total electricity used in buildings around the world, or 10% of all global electricity consumption. But as incomes and living standards improve in many developing countries, the growth in AC demand in hotter regions is set to soar.
AC use is expected to be the second-largest source of global electricity demand growth after the industrial sector and the strongest driver for buildings by 2050.
Supplying power to these ACs comes with large costs and environmental implications. One crucial factor is that the efficiency of these new ACs can vary widely.
