How is air conditioning bad for the environment?

Question

I keep hearing it is but not making the connection to turning on the a/c to global warming

Answer 1

When you switch the air con on it's removing heat from the air but this heat doesn't disappear - it's released into the outside air. Effectively the air con is removing the heat from the room and blowing it outside.

Because a/c units need electricity to power them there is a need to burn fossil fuels to generate the electricity and this produces greenhouse gases.

Also, a/c units use a chemical as the coolant and this is often dichlorodifluoromethane (one of the trade names for this chemical is Freon). One part of this stuff causes as much warming as 8500 parts of carbon dioxide.

Running your air con is just one of many things that contribute to global warming. If you turn it down a touch or don't use it as much you'll be helping to reduce global warming.

Answer 2

Air conditioning does use a considerable amount of energy. Also Freon 22 is a chlorofluorocarbon. Chlorofluorocarbons have been linked to a breakdown in the ozone layer. At the present time it is still OK to use Freon 22 the chlorofluorocarbon I'm talking about in home and commercial A/C units. HOWEVER. I must say with all due respect some people seem to just want us to all suffer way beyond a logical point. The EPA has a timely plan to phase out freon 22 and to replace it with a more Eco-friendly refrigerant. Unless your A/C has a refrigerant leak don't worry to much about it. If it does get the leak fixed. As far as A/C's using allot of electricity across the board they do BUT they do not pollute near as much as the UN NEEDED use of gasoline!

Answer 3

In the city of Shanghai, AC accounts for 40% of all the electricity need in the city !!! And since the production of electricity is based on coal, every kWh there emitts over 0.8 Kg CO2.
On the top of that, it also emits SOx, NOx, Mercury, Ozone, dust, CHn, etc...

Now there is an ENVIRONMENTAL FRIENDLY ALTERNATIVE TO ORDINARY AC:


When people dig to build their houses, they should lay around the basement 1m deep in the ground over 30m a pipe with a diameter 20cm.... You then just have to have a small fan and the air circulating through the tube will be cooled by the ground which is at constant temperature all year long. In the winter, it will also warm up the fresh air a bit before it enters your house so you might also save on heating....

And knowing what a hose cost, it might simply save you money over the more than 50 years lifetime of the house !!!!

Answer 4

Largely because of electricity involved. If we moved to less chemical systems (like the old fan and ice block systems) we still use massive amounts of electricity. Its compounded by the fact that most folks don't seem to want to settle for 77-80 degrees of cool, they want 70-72 which can take a lot more AC even in the temperate northern Ohio where I live. If people set their AC to a higher temp, shaded their units (to prevent overwear), and used fans to help distribute cool air instead of running the AC longer you would see a drop on electric use (which comes from coal/oil burning power plants) and a reduced impact on global warming... Also most homes simply aren't designed to be coolable by natural breezes or dehumidification (someone has to manufacture a combined AC/dehumidifier unit.)

CS

Answer 5

The AC itself isn't the problem. But air conditioning uses a lot of energy. And that energy has to be generated. That requires a generating facility--and we generate a lot of our energy using coal-fired powerplants. So, what happens when you turn on your AC is that somewhere the power company has to shove more coal in the furnace--thus increasing CO2 emissions--and thereby adding to the global warming.

That's one reason why solar energy may be one of the most important alternative technologies--it works best at the very times you want to turn the AC on!. And, as the costs of solar panels keeps dropping, its going to be the cheapest energy around in a few more years. It already is competetitive, (with tax credits and such)--and if you can affort the investment, will pay for itself even now.

Answer 6

Air conditioning uses energy.

To get the energy to the AC unit.. we typically make electricity.

The electricity is primarily made by burning fossil fuel.

So.. using an air conditioner equals burning fossil fuel.

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However.. global warming is over-hyped.

There's other, more immediate issues which should be getting addressed but are being ignored because of the global warming hype.

Thank your global warming alarmists for actually delaying the more important concerns from being addressed.

Answer 7

It lets out Freon Gases into the Air that Break apart the O3 Molecules called Ozone. When those are broken apart it gets rid of the Protective layer called the Ozone layer.
When that Goes. U V A and U V B rays go in to our planet at a higher rate and will cause Cancer at a Higher rate.
Also More Radiation will go into the Ecosystem.

Answer 8

It has freon which depletes the ozone in our atmosphere and allows UV rays to get in which can cause cancer. Also, AC uses a lot of energy which is currently mainly produced by coal (big bad thing that releases a whole lot of CO2).

Answer 9

It isn't the A/C that is bad it is the Freon that leaks or is released into the air that is bad.

If we used Geo-Thermal heat pumps that take the earth's heating /cooling effects from water pipes that are laid 4 feet or more under ground our heating/cooling would be essentially free, and harmless to the world.

Answer 10

uses a lot of power
and to make electricity we must burn coal
or nuclear reactors
so in the end more air gets poluted if the whole world turnd up their airconditioners