Playing it cool on climate: Cooling tech firms are not innovating or promoting energy-efficient products, report finds

(Eco Business, 8 Jun 2020) Demand for cooling systems is soaring in Asia, but the biggest manufacturers of energy-guzzling air-conditioners and refrigerators are failing to respond to climate concerns, a new report has found.

Global energy demand from cooling technologies is expected to triple by 2050, but the companies that make air-conditioners and refrigerators are not innovating to rein in the sector’s monster carbon footprint, nor are they promoting their most energy-efficient products, a new report has found.

Asian cooling industry giants such as Daikin, Hitachi, Samsung, LG Electronics, Panasonic and Mitsubishi Electric spend on average just 2.2 per cent of sales on research and development (R&D)—well below the 3.5 per cent average for capital goods—and are not investing in finding alternatives to the energy-guzzling vapour compression technology that was invented more than 100 years ago.

These multi-billion dollar companies are investing in innovations that deliver small, incremental emissions reductions and are showing little ambition to reduce the climate impact of their products, the report titled Playing it cool from environmental measurement non-profit CDP found.

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Eco Business, 8 Jun 2020: Playing it cool on climate: Cooling tech firms are not innovating or promoting energy-efficient products, report finds