Context: 

• Recently India Cooling Action Plan Launched.

Significance:

• India is the first country in world to develop such a document (ICAP), which addresses cooling requirement across sectors and lists out actions which can help reduce the cooling demand.
• The overarching goal is to provide sustainable cooling and thermal comfort for all while securing environmental and socio-economic benefits for the society.

The goals emerging from the suggested interventions stated in ICAP are:

• Reduction of cooling demand across sectors by 20% to 25 % by year 2037-38.
• Reduction of refrigerant demand by 25% to 30% by year 2037-38.
• Reduction of cooling energy requirements by 25% to 40% by year 2037-38.
• Training and certification of 100,000 servicing sector technicians by the year 2022-23, in synergy with Skill India Mission.
• Recognize “cooling and related areas” as a thrust area of research under the national S&T Programme.

The broad objectives of the India Cooling Action Plan include:

• Assessment of cooling requirements across sectors in next 20 years and the associated refrigerant demand and energy use.
• Map the technologies available to cater the cooling requirement including passive interventions, refrigerant-based technologies and alternative technologies such as not-in-kind technologies.
• Suggest interventions in each sector to provide for sustainable cooling and thermal comfort for all.
• Focus on skilling of RAC service technicians.
• Develop an R&D innovation ecosystem for indigenous development of alternative technologies.

The following benefits would accrue to society over and above the environmental benefits:

• Thermal comfort for all – provision for cooling for EWS and LIG housing.
• Sustainable cooling – low GHG emissions related to cooling.
• Doubling Farmers Income – better cold chain infrastructure – better value of products to farmers, less wastage of produce.
• Skilled workforce for better livelihoods and environmental protection.
• Make in India – domestic manufacturing of air-conditioning and related cooling equipment’s.
• Robust R&D on alternative cooling technologies – to provide the push to innovation in a cooling sector.

Source:PIB