<p>Mumbai: Air conditioner use during 2024 heatwaves doubled electricity demand growth in major markets including India, according to a report by Ember, an independent global energy think tank that aims to accelerate the clean energy transition with data and policy.</p><p>Ember finds that extreme heat events in 2024 in the world’s three largest electricity markets – India, China and the United States – caused a surge in air conditioner usage, causing electricity demand growth to double in some heatwave months. </p><p>There was a significant increase in coal generation and gas in the US to meet the additional demand.</p><p>“The year 2024 was the hottest year on record, with a number of heatwaves in densely-populated areas of the world. As a result, air cooling needs driven by heatwaves significantly increased electricity demand in specific months of the summer - August and September in China, June in the US and May in India,” the report states. </p>.Record-breaking marine heatwaves caused global devastation in the last two years: Study. <p>May 2024 was the hottest in India, with temperatures averaging 31.7°C, a 1°C increase from May 2023. Cooling accounted for almost one-third of the year-on-year demand increase in that month, and for 19 per cent of the year-on-year demand growth from April to September 2024 in the country. The contribution of cooling to demand increase in India was less pronounced</p><p>compared with the US and China, likely due to unmet air cooling needs in the country and strong economic growth leading to a rise in demand from other sectors.</p><p>As temperatures soared, putting strain on the grid, all three countries turned to coal, while the US additionally relied on gas to ease the pressure.</p><p>The months most affected by hotter temperatures accounted for most of the annual increase in coal generation in China. 59 per cent of China’s 2024 annual coal generation growth happened in just August and September.</p><p>While clean energy met over two-thirds of the demand increase in the US in June, the rest was supplied by gas and coal. In that month, coal generation grew by 6.4 per cent year-on-year and gas generation by 4.6 per cent year-on-year, noticeably higher than the 2024 annual average growth.</p><p>In India, clean energy fulfilled 19 per cent of the increased power demand in May, while coal met 70 per cent and gas covered the rest.</p><p>Ember’ electricity analyst Kostantsa Rangelova said that 2024 was the hottest year on record, with heat waves causing massive spikes in demand - and the pressure will only grow as the planet warms. “The solution is twofold: scale up efficient AC adoption to cut costs and ease peak demand, and invest in clean, flexible power to keep grids resilient as extreme weather intensifies. The crisis is accelerating—our response must, too.”</p>
<p>Mumbai: Air conditioner use during 2024 heatwaves doubled electricity demand growth in major markets including India, according to a report by Ember, an independent global energy think tank that aims to accelerate the clean energy transition with data and policy.</p><p>Ember finds that extreme heat events in 2024 in the world’s three largest electricity markets – India, China and the United States – caused a surge in air conditioner usage, causing electricity demand growth to double in some heatwave months. </p><p>There was a significant increase in coal generation and gas in the US to meet the additional demand.</p><p>“The year 2024 was the hottest year on record, with a number of heatwaves in densely-populated areas of the world. As a result, air cooling needs driven by heatwaves significantly increased electricity demand in specific months of the summer - August and September in China, June in the US and May in India,” the report states. </p>.Record-breaking marine heatwaves caused global devastation in the last two years: Study. <p>May 2024 was the hottest in India, with temperatures averaging 31.7°C, a 1°C increase from May 2023. Cooling accounted for almost one-third of the year-on-year demand increase in that month, and for 19 per cent of the year-on-year demand growth from April to September 2024 in the country. The contribution of cooling to demand increase in India was less pronounced</p><p>compared with the US and China, likely due to unmet air cooling needs in the country and strong economic growth leading to a rise in demand from other sectors.</p><p>As temperatures soared, putting strain on the grid, all three countries turned to coal, while the US additionally relied on gas to ease the pressure.</p><p>The months most affected by hotter temperatures accounted for most of the annual increase in coal generation in China. 59 per cent of China’s 2024 annual coal generation growth happened in just August and September.</p><p>While clean energy met over two-thirds of the demand increase in the US in June, the rest was supplied by gas and coal. In that month, coal generation grew by 6.4 per cent year-on-year and gas generation by 4.6 per cent year-on-year, noticeably higher than the 2024 annual average growth.</p><p>In India, clean energy fulfilled 19 per cent of the increased power demand in May, while coal met 70 per cent and gas covered the rest.</p><p>Ember’ electricity analyst Kostantsa Rangelova said that 2024 was the hottest year on record, with heat waves causing massive spikes in demand - and the pressure will only grow as the planet warms. “The solution is twofold: scale up efficient AC adoption to cut costs and ease peak demand, and invest in clean, flexible power to keep grids resilient as extreme weather intensifies. The crisis is accelerating—our response must, too.”</p>