The overheating Chinese economy isn't just a cliche for lazy business reporters anymore, but a very literal problem with real environmental consequences.
Forbes reports that as the capitalist boom in China creates wealth, millions of people are looking to buy luxuries that until recently would have been unaffordable - like air conditioners. More than 20 million new air conditioning units are now being sold each year, which is good news if you're suffering through a Shanghai summer, but not so positive for the environment.
There are two principal problems, of which the first is the fact that air conditioning systems are often real electricity pigs. China is growing so rapidly that it's already having trouble keeping the lights on, and because it gets some 78% of its power from coal-fired plants, any additional drain on the grid is like hitting the global warming turbo switch.
The second issue is the refrigerants used in air conditioners. For years most units used chlorofluorocarbons, believed to be destructive to the ozone layer, but in 1987, 191 countries signed the Montreal protocol, agreeing to phase out CFCs by 2010. China is not a signatory to the protocol, however, and a third of the 30 million air conditioners manufactured there still cool using CFCs.
The good news is that the Chinese government is taking steps to impose energy efficiency standards around air conditioning units, and also moving towards phasing out CFCs. The not-so-good news? There are about a billion people in India who'd probably also like to be air conditioned...
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