The global market for district cooling solutions is projected to grow from $5.14 billion in 2016 to $9.54 billion by 2021, at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 13.19 per cent, according to a recent report from ReportLinker.

Rising energy prices, growing environmental concerns and rising demand for low-cost and high-efficiency cooling systems are expected to drive the demand for district cooling, the report said.

“District cooling systems can also contribute to the green economy transition through cost savings from reduced fossil fuel expenditure. In addition, the central cooling systems have higher energy efficiency which can significantly reduce the greenhouse gas emissions. This can result in improved air quality and increase the resilience of cities to fuel price shocks,” said Ahmad Bin Shafar, CEO of Emirates Central Cooling Systems (Empower), the world's largest district cooling service provider.

He highlighted the use of district cooling solutions (DCS) to optimise climate change and reduce energy consumption and carbon emissions at the recent “Sustainable Energy for all forum” in New York, USA, which supports the efforts to enhance sustainability and energy saving all over the world.

A report titled ‘UAE Climate Change Risks & Resilience’, produced by Emirates Wildlife Society in association with the World Wildlife Fund for Nature (EWS-WWF), projected the risks and impacts that climate change could have in various sectors, including health, energy and food security in the UAE.

“With climate change challenges, cooling requirements are increasing rapidly all over the world. As such, it is time we move to cost-effective and efficient district cooling solutions for reducing greenhouse gas emissions and primary energy demand,” said Bin Shafar.

“With district cooling solutions, we can change the way we produce and use energy. At the same time, district cooling solutions can save approximately 50 per cent of the energy used for cooling, compared to conventional cooling methods.

“This will not only help mitigate climate change, but also accelerate economic development, reduce environmental pollution, generate huge savings on electricity and water, save the natural resources and fossil fuels and alleviate extreme poverty, thereby making cities a lot more resilient to climate change,” he added.

A transition to modern district cooling systems could contribute to energy emissions reductions, and reduce primary energy consumption by a larger per cent; In addition, district cooling has several other benefits including good remote maintenance, improved safety and security due to a controlled environment and the significantly reduced leakage rate which could increase the dependency on renewable energy. – TradeArabia News Service