Hello! Halo! Kumusta! Xin chào! สวัสดี! မင်္ဂလာပါ! ជំរាបសួរ! ສະບາຍດີ!

🎤 Rap culture is filled with references to “ice”:

Ice Cube 🧊, Ice-T 🍹, Vanilla Ice 🍦, Ice Spice 🌶️, Ice Coffee ☕ (ok, that last one is made up 😝)

Why is that? Well, in hip-hop lingo, the word “ice” typically refers to jewelry 💍 or as a shorthand for wealth 💰.

❄️ A couple of hundred years ago, ice was indeed an actual source of wealth for an enterprising gentleman by the name of Fredric Tudor AKA the “Ice King” (his nickname could be a rapper!). During Tudor’s time, ice was harvested from ponds in New England and shipped around the world (BU, 2022).

It wasn’t until the early 20th century when:

1. Air conditioning was invented—practically on accident—by Willis Carrier, who was trying to figure out a way to de-humidify publishing operations yet inadvertently found that the process was also cooling the air (US Department of Energy)

2. Modern refrigeration started to become a mass-produced appliance; though they had a bit of a shaky start due to early issues with toxic refrigerants (US Department of Energy)

🧐 So what’s the deal with refrigerants?

🧪 Refrigerants are chemical substances used to power our air conditioners, refrigerators, and other cooling appliances. More specifically, they include: chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs) and hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs)*

*don’t worry if you struggle to pronounce the words, so do we 😵

♨️ As mentioned on our organic waste issue, carbon dioxide (CO₂) is not the only greenhouse gas (GHG) in town: Methane (CH₄) is a gas that’s over 80 times more potent in terms of its global warming potential (GWP) once in the atmosphere—though it’s worth noting that it doesn’t linger in the atmosphere for as long as CO₂ does.

😲 Well what if we told you that there’s a set of GHGs with a GWP that is not 80 times more than CO₂ but up to 9,000 times (over 100 times more GWP than CH₄)! That’s right, the refrigerant fluids that enable us to keep cool are also ironically heating up the planet considerably; thus, the conundrum is that the more that we use cooling appliances that utilize such refrigerants, the warmer we’ll ultimately feel, thus causing us to demand more cooling and so on… it’s a terrible version of the growth flywheel.

🧑🏻‍🔬 Scientists and policymakers have been aware of the negative impacts of refrigerants for some time now and have urged policymakers to take action accordingly. For instance, CFCs were agreed to be phased out during the Montreal Protocol as agreed in 1987 due to the fact that they were depleting the ozone layer, and HFCs have been agreed to be phased our during the Kigali Amendment in 2016.

↗️ Our need for cooling will only grow…

📖 In the novel, The Ministry for the Future, populations in South Asia are wiped out by heat waves with a fatal wet bulb temperature 🌡️. While that example is from a science fiction book, air conditioning quite literally saves lives, with over 3B individuals across the world at risk due to lack of access to cooling (Rocky Mountain Institute, 2021).

🌎 Average global temperature is increasing every year but it’s not evenly distributed: population growth is concentrated in areas with higher average global temperatures to begin with (i.e. Asia & Africa).

🥵 However, the hotter regions of the world actually tend to have lower penetration rates of cooling appliances like air conditioners (ACs). For instance, in the US & Japan over 90% of households have an air conditioner, compared to only 15% in Southeast Asia and even lower at 5% in India and Africa, respectively (IEA, 2023).

📊 The chart below compares the number of cooling degree days (CDDs), which is basically a measure of the number of days where cooling is needed to be comfortable or survive, on the left y-axis vis-a-vis the percentage of households who are using ACs on the right y-axis in countries across Asia. What’s evident about this chart is that that—with the exception of Singapore and Malaysia—the hotter Asian countries tend to have lower penetration of AC units.

📈 The implication of this is that demand for cooling is expected to grow rapidly, especially amidst countries where average temperatures are increasing disproportionately faster yet AC penetration is currently low.

🔥 Cool story, but how will we solve this hot issue?

📝 To recap, there are basically 2 separate climate change-related issues with cooling, which will require different solutions:

1. Certain refrigerants used in cooling appliances have a huge GWP:
   🧪 In fact, under a reasonably successful scenario preventing 100% of refrigerant leaks that otherwise would have been released can avoid emissions equivalent to 57.15 gigatons of carbon dioxide over the next 30 years (Project Drawdown). For context, 57.15 gigatons of carbon dioxide equivalent emissions is roughly equal to 1.5 times total global annual CO2e emissions (IEA, 2022).

2. Cooling appliances are power-hungry, utilizing plenty of electricity to run:
   🔌With cooling appliances already estimated to account for 10% of global electricity use (Rocky Mountain Institute, 2021), this is cause for concern as these power hungry appliances can further strain the energy needs of these rapidly developing countries whose grids are already struggling to keep up with demand.

Beyond efficiency standards, better building design that involves natural cooling can help reduce space cooling demand.

🚮 With regards to harmful refrigerants in particular, 90% of emissions occur after usable product lifecycle, thus end-of-life care is critical to managing emissions. Moreover, phasing out older appliances that leverage more harmful refrigerants for those that have less GWP, with alternative refrigerants is critical too (Project Drawdown). As you’ll see later, there’s a Southeast Asia-based startup doing just that!

📚 Want to learn more about this topic?

1. “The Future of cooling in Southeast Asia” from International Energy Agency

2. “The global cooling crisis: What Southeast Asia can do about it” from Eco-Business

3. “The Cold Economy” from Asian Development Bank

4. “Roadmap Towards Sustainable and Energy-Efficient Space Cooling in ASEAN” from ASEAN Centre for Energy

📢 Shout-out to ASHRAE!

⚙️ Founded in 1894, ASHRAE is a global society advancing sustainable technology for the built environment, including building systems, energy efficiency, indoor air quality, refrigeration and sustainability within the RHVAC industry.

Herlin Herlianika leads the ASHRAE Indonesia Chapter to actively support the government on climate action through decarbonization policies. A particular focus area is on split AC efficiency awareness, an appliance that contributes more than 50% of emissions from the cooling sector yet lacks broader public awareness.

🗞️ Recent News

👍🏻 Good News

💚 Vietnam’s National Green Cooling Programme includes minimum energy performance standards for ACs (Vietnam News, 8 November 2023)

🪭 Hybrid cooling leads to significant energy savings in tropical office buildings (Citris, 6 October 2023)

🚫 Indonesia’s Ministry of Environment promises to start limiting the use of HFCs at the beginning of 2024 (Antara News, 24 September 2023)

👎🏻 Bad News

☢️ Potent GHGs and ozone-depleting CFCs are back on the rise following international ban, a new study finds (Inside Climate News, 3 April 2023)

📢 Other Voices

🏙️ “How to Cool Down a City” by Pablo Robles, Josh Holder and Jeremy White (The New York Times, 18 September 2023)

❄️ “How cooling tech is powering Southeast Asia’s sustainability agenda” by Dr. Kelley Mullick (The Edge, 31 July 2023)

💔 “This country’s love affair with air conditioning shows a Catch 22 of climate change” by Heather Chen (CNN, 9 June 2023)

➡️ “The way ahead for sustainable cooling” by Portia Tan (Eco-Business, 21 Feb 2023)

🎙️ Interview with Louis of Recoolit

🌟 What is Recoolit’s mission?

Our mission at Recoolit is to catalyze a cooler, sustainable future for all of humanity 💚. We fight super-potent greenhouse gases from refrigerants, which account for 6% of global CO2e emissions, using a unique solution that delivers crucial environmental benefits while fostering local economic growth and job creation.

💡 Why were you initially inspired to tackle cooling as an issue?

In 2019 I was looking for a way to make an impact on climate change. When I learned about refrigerants, I was shocked that such a big problem is so little-known. We can’t live without cooling: in a warming climate and in countries like Indonesia it’s a fundamental human right. When I learned more about the problem I realized there’s a huge opportunity to tackle this problem by combining environmental goals with economic growth.

🛠️ How exactly is Recoolit solving it?

Recoolit uses digital technology 💻 plus on-the-ground operations 👷🏻‍♂️ to collect harmful refrigerants, prevent their leakage into the atmosphere, and then destroy them. By doing so, we're not only making an immediate climate impact but also creating sustainable job opportunities in Southeast Asia, producing high-quality carbon credits, and ensuring unparalleled transparency in every step of the process. With roots in the US and a home base in Jakarta, this approach connects global climate urgency with local opportunities.

😲 What is a surprising fact about refrigerants

♨️ Releasing the refrigerant from a single split AC is as bad as burning 2,000 liters of gasoline!

🎬 What actions can readers take now to support your cause?

We’d love to talk to any business with a significant cooling footprint: supermarkets, cold chain, office towers, shopping malls, or more! We’re also on the lookout for passionate people: we have open listings in software engineering and account management, and excited to chat with anyone who’s inspired by our mission. Feel free to send me an email ([email protected]) or recommend your friends. Finally, you can support us by purchasing high-quality carbon credits on our website.

🦸🏻 What do you do when you’re not saving the world?

🤠 I love exploring Indonesia’s incredible natural beauty, from the top of Mount Rinjani 🌋 to the coral reefs of Raja Ampat 🪸. And I’m always keeping an eye open for the best Manadonese food 🌶️ along the way…

📢 Announcing: Full Circle podcast

🎙️ We're excited to announce that we've partnered with Circle Capital on a podcast mini-series called Full Circle!

🗓️ Last week, we published our first episode, in which Karina interviewed Ratna Kartadjoemena about impact investing. You can find a link to that episode here.

🎧 Today, we’ve published our second episode, in which Karina interviewed Cynthia Wijaya about circular economy. You can find a link to that episode here.

🧏🏻 Please be sure to give it a listen and follow as we’ll be publishing 3 more episodes in the coming weeks!

⏭️ Next week, we’ll be diving into potable water access 🤿 so stay tuned as we make a splash! 💦

❓ Did you enjoy this week’s issue? If yes, please do forward to your friends who would enjoy the read as well. Also, feel free to let us know what you thought by giving us feedback at [email protected].

🌊 SEA you next week!

Karina & Massimiliano