Source: Press Information Bureau
On World Ozone Day, India’s Cooling Action Plan got UN applauds. The India Cooling Action Plan (ICAP) lists out actions that can help reduce the cooling demand, which will also help in reducing both direct and indirect emissions. ICAP recommends synergies with ongoing government programmes and schemes such as Housing for All, the Smart Cities Mission, Doubling Farmers Income and Skill India Mission, in order to maximize socio-economic co-benefits.
About ICAP
Goal
To provide sustainable cooling and thermal comfort for all while securing environmental and socio-economic benefits for the society
Targets & Actions
The India Cooling Action seeks to;
- Reduce cooling demand across sectors by 20% to 25% by 2037-38
- Reduce refrigerant demand by 25% to 30% by 2037-38
- Reduce cooling energy requirements by 25% to 40% by 2037-38
- Recognize “cooling and related areas” as a thrust area of research under the national S&T Programme
- Training and certification of 100,000 servicing sector technicians by 2022-23, synergizing with Skill India Mission. These actions will have significant climate benefits.
Broad objectives of ICAP
- Assessment of cooling requirements across sectors in the 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
Benefits
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 – the better value of produce 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 a push to innovation in the cooling sector.
The development of ICAP has been a multi-stakeholder inclusive process encompassing different Government Ministries/Departments/Organizations, Industry and Industry Associations, Think tanks, Academic and R&D institutions.
Thematic areas under ICAP
