Our reliance on air conditioning is set to increase dramatically, driven by climate change, higher living standards and rises in populations.
By 2050, World Bank forecasts show, the number of air-conditioning units around the globe is set to triple to five billion.
“The demand for cooling will go up, not just because of increasing temperature, but because we haven’t built to house all the projected population growth and economic activities in the developing world,” says Monjur Mourshed, professor of sustainable engineering at Cardiff University in the UK.