The suffocating heat waves that are punishing Europe have caused something unthinkable a few years ago in France, since air conditioning has become a state weapon. In a country historically reluctant to artificial air conditioning, the extreme increase in temperatures has had the ceiling fans and blinds drawn are no longer enoughand in the face of the stress of a population not accustomed to temperatures around 40 ºC, promises have appeared.
A debate. According to a recent analysis of the BBCthe debate on air conditioning has dynamited French political lines. On the one hand, the political party led by Marine Le Pen has put on the table a “climate plan” that defends almost universal air conditioning. On the other hand, the green block, historically opposed to these devices due to their environmental impact, has had to swallow saliva and admit that, in certain cases, air conditioning is already an “inevitable” measure.
What is promised. To understand the magnitude of the debate, you have to look at the numbers. Le Pen’s party, called the National Group, has proposed a zero-interest loan fund of 20 billion euros so that between 30 and 40 million homes can install air conditioning systems such as reversible heat pumps and improve their insulation.
And we are facing a great political strategy, because logically, in the midst of suffocating heat, promising aid to have a tool that reduces temperatures at home is a magnet for votes. However, these measures clash with the climate adaptation plans that are in force in the French country.
The climate problem. The environmental bloc is at a crossroads, since massive air conditioning triggers energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions if the network is not 100% renewable or nuclear. But denying air conditioning to the vulnerable population, such as in hospitals, is political suicide and an unaffordable public health risk. Hence his speech has veered from prohibition to resignation to the “inevitable.”
The poor adaptation. If we go to the more technical side of this debate, local media such as, for example, Le Monde or the Institute of Climate Economics have been categorical in classifying the mass adoption of air conditioning under the term “maladaptation”. This means that a short-term solution to climate change is being proposed that will end up aggravating the problem in the long term.
Air conditioning is the textbook example, since, as experts point out, an air conditioner does not “destroy” heat, it simply removes it from the interior of the home and spits it out onto the street.
A vicious circle. Climate models in dense cities like Paris have shown that if all buildings turned on the air conditioning at once during a heat wave, the temperature outside could rise by an additional 1°C to 2°C, further exacerbating the problem. But also, while people who can afford it cool off in their living rooms, people without resources find themselves on a much more aggressive “urban heat island.”
France’s plan. Beyond the electoral promises that are made at a time when we are approaching the country’s presidential elections, France’s road map works under the premise of preparing the country for a +4 ºC warming scenario.
To address this, the possibility of renewing the insulation of buildings, replacing asphalt with trees and creating urban cooling systems with centralized underground cold water networks that are more efficient and less harmful than having millions of individual devices on facades is being considered.
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was originally published in
Xataka
by
José A. Lizana
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