Skip to main content
Home

Main navigation

  • Top stories
  • Health
  • Crime
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Tech
  • Culture
  • Sports
  • Weird
  • 1-1-2
Image
Air conditioner
Air conditioner - Credit: Photo: andrei111/DepositPhotos
Nature
Innovation
climate agreement
Climate change
global warming
CO2
greenhouse gas emissions
air conditioner
Klimaatverbond Nederland
Diederik Samson
PBL
NVKL
Nico Hoogervorst
Tuesday, 30 July 2019 - 15:50
Share this:
  • facebook
  • twitter
  • linkedin
  • whatsapp
  • reddit

Inefficient air conditioners forgotten in Dutch climate deal

The skyrocketing demand for energy-guzzling air conditioners in Dutch homes was not taken into account in the government's Climate Agreement. This blind spot means that it will be even more difficult than expected for the Netherlands to achieve its climate goals, the Klimaatverbond Nederland - a collaboration of dozens of local governments like provinces, municipalities and waterboards - said to newspaper AD.

"In the Netherlands we mainly talk about how we are going to heat our houses without natural gas. But because of better insulation of homes, the demand for heat is falling sharply, while the need for cooling is increasing", spokesperson Jan Engels of the Klimaatverbond said to the newspaper. The increasing demand for cooling can be demonstrated by last week's heat wave, when online trading site Marktplaats saw over 100 thousand searches for air conditioners in a few days.

Large online stores like bol.com and CoolBlue saw the demand for air conditioners increase by 300 percent in recent years, the sector organization for air treatment and cooling technology NVKL said to AD. The expectation is that sales will continue to increase.

The Climate Agreement presented by the government in June takes no account of extra emissions caused by air conditioners and the increasing demand for cooling down homes, Nico Hoogervorst of the Netherlands' environmental assessment agency PBL confirmed. "We do have an idea of how much cooling offices, shops, hospitals and companies need and how much energy is needed for this. But the cooling of houses should also be taken into account", he said to the newspaper.

When asked about this blind spot, the chairman of the climate table for the built environment Diederik Samson said that he did not know that the PBL did not include this in its figures. "Then they will have to do that the next time", he said to AD. Air conditioners use a lot of electricity, and therefore cause a lot of greenhouse gas emissions. Their outdoor units also make cities a bit warmer, according to the newspaper. But Samsom expects that this extra energy consumption will not have that major of an impact. "That blind spot isn't that large."

The Climate Agreement states that the Netherlands must reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 49 percent by 2030, when compared to 1990. The climate table for the built up environment, which includes homes, must realize an emissions cut of 3.4 megatons of CO2.

Follow us:

Latest stories

  • Several injured after car collision at gas station in Noord-Brabant; Fatal accident on the A65 near Tilburg
  • Verstappen wins in wet Monaco
  • FNV concludes collective bargaining agreements for TUI fly and easyJet after lengthy discussions
  • Feyenoord lose for the second time this season; Heerenveen set for playoffs
  • Stunning finish puts PSV in the Champions League, Ajax in Europa League
  • Police still looking for kidnapped man from Spanbroek

Top stories

  • Man found dead in apartment in Den Bosch after laying undiscovered for five months
  • Explosion at Surinamese money exchange office in Rotterdam, suspect on the run
  • Almost 1580 XR climate activists arrested on A12, 40 prosecuted
  • King Willem-Alexander will give speech on slavery commemoration, apology to be expected
  • Explosion at apartment in Rotterdam, no one injured
  • XR climate activists want to block A12 in The Hague, about 3000 protesters expected

© 2012-2023, NL Times, All rights reserved.

Footer menu

  • Privacy
  • Contact
  • Partner content