It hasn't ever been this hot, this regularly, especially in the northen parts of the continent. Add that to the number of historical building, streets, etc, that really can't (or shouldn't) get littered with eyesores on every balcony, and you can understand why AC units never picked up much steam in a lot of places. But that doesn't mean people have some twisted aversion to the technology, in fact, it already exists in many places. Where I'm from (a southern country), it's more common for a public place (buildings, transport, and so on) to have AC than to not have it. On people's homes, it's less common, but there's been a natural increase in demand. Unfortunately, many can't justify the investment to retrofit it into existing buildings, though new ones are likely to be built with central HVAC systems.
I don't know, it feels weird to read pieces like this one. It seems clear the author does not live over here and has a skewed conception of what Europe is and the peculiarities of each country and region. His previous post on the topic even goes as far as calling out some form of resistant to "foreign technology"...
It's easy to make blanket assumptions, but a bit of empathy and a more careful approach into these issues would go a long way.
And there's no need to be like the Americans that cool down to 18°C when the outside is > 35°C: simply decreasing the indoor temperature to saner numbers like 26°C is enough, it's summer after all. Less energy usage and it is enough for the body to be happy.
I’ve been feeling confused lately about the news that the far-right parties in UK & France want more AC and the left-wing complain it’s not solving the root problems.
Are people just not aware that heat pumps are a great solution for both heating and cooling, saving energy on heating during winter?
And I think that parties saying burning more fossil fuels doesn't fix the problem, like, at all, aren't particularly wrong? And they're also the ones trying to push for more solar/wind energy generation and more heat pumps (that can heat in the winter and cool in the summer).
Not sure what you're trying to convey or where you're taking your data from?
In my European country, people struggle to buy houses, nobody is rushing to do a full house renovation.
Furthermore, the consensus is: heat pumps are great for a new home or a full renovation. Installing a heat pump with old-style radiators makes no sense, because the heat pump heats to a low temperature.
I would have assumed air-con was standard in new built homes in southern Europe and less so once you get to more northern places where the load is mostly heating.
Then there are refits, which add another dimension of cost and difficulty.
Maybe there is a group of loud AC resistors somewhere that I managed to avoid this whole time? Or maybe the pundits are pushing a narrative to rile people up and drive their substack income like they always do? Who knows!
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48661506
From this limited sample, I’d imagine there was a groups of advocates arguing for anti-AC policies, but that this is now shifting with as climate change develops.
Questionable (albeit maybe defensible) degrowth policies are not unheard of in the EU. Most famously is Germany’s move away from nuclear which forced their dependence on Russian natural gas. So there is probably truth that people used to be somewhat anti-AC. But, I’d share your skepticism if there are large groups of people who still believe in anti-AC policies. The article I share would suggest many of these people have updated their priors.
Europe is usually not this hot, hence lack of AC in many places. Floods and earthquakes are also uncommon, hence the buildings in most places are not up to code against, say, Japanese standards.
Furthermore, the costs of modern cooling are infinitely cheaper than solutions, if they exist, for other natural disasters.
I lived in both Europe and the United States and traveled around the world. This article makes a lot of sense to me.
Europe averages 53k to 175k heat-related deaths per year. The difference depends on whether you listen to the EC or the UN. https://news.un.org/en/story/2024/08/1152766
The comparable number for the US is 4-11k, albeit with about 20% fewer people.
Note that the US is further south than Europe and generally has higher temperatures.
> So the death rate from heat in Europe is almost twice the death rate from guns in America. If you think guns are an emergency in the U.S., you should think that heat in Europe is an even bigger emergency.
Keeping out of the heat: Avoid going out and undertaking strenuous activities when the sun’s at its hottest. Stay in the shade and do not leave children or animals in parked vehicles. If necessary and possible, spend two to three hours in a cool place, such as a supermarket or cinema
Most upper latitude European homes have been designed for mid-century cool(er) climates. They are extremely efficient at trapping and holding on to heat. Go look at any sub-reddit for central European cities over the past few days and you'll find multiple reports of 35+C conditions inside homes.
Furthermore, you can find plenty of examples over the past week in those same cities of supermarket and cinema ACs in total failure modes. Not to mention most supermarkets are closed on Sundays.
One real problem outside of the home is that there have been plenty of reported cases of drowning. Unclear if this is just statistical with the mobs of people (some of whom cannot swim, or swim well) who are forced to leave their homes to find relief.
Europe historically has not been this hot, but they regularly have heat waves. I remember a 40C heat wave more than a decade ago! That's enough time to add emergency infrastructure, unless you're hoping to snuff old people. When you get your third hundred year flood in a decade it's time to update your priors.
Of course when it's regularly in the upper 80sF / 30C I will give in. I just empathize.
ERCOT (Texas) has daily swings of up to 50 gigawatts of power in the summer. I am pretty sure it is the most volatile US grid in terms of the demand side. A lot of the transmission infrastructure is purpose built for this exact problem.
> solar panels convert sunlight to electricity
> AC converts electricity to cooler air indoors
Ah, if only there was a way to solve those three problems at once. Alas...
As to the "resistance" to AC: is this an actual thing or just something the media made up? It seems that for the most part anyone who wants AC can just buy it, barring exceptions like historical buildings. If people want to cook themselves alive I’m not really seeing the issue, as they only harm themselves (unlike, say, with vaccines where herd immunity is important).
It’s annoying to see peers lecturing others about Climate change and resistance to growth. What’s strange is that the same people have weekly vacations to south of France without any hesitation.
Take any moderately educated Zillenial and ask them what they feel passionately about.
People are feeling more and more alienated from large scale projects of humanity. They have also given up on religion itself. What remains is a facade of religion where degrowth and Palestine take act as Pseudo Religion.
Here in Germany I see stickers and Graffiti all the time.
“Fuck the big Tech”
“Fuck big oil”
“ChatGPT bad”
These are the kind of flyers I see. Of course I’m leaving out the Palestine stuff here.
There are close to Zero educated people excited about the idea of growth. Ask them and they would tell you they’d rather have all capitalists done away with return to a past when we were all peaceful and not “destroying the planet”.
Obviously I’m not claiming degrowth is majority. I’m claiming that at least within my bubble, zero people are excited about the potential of growth. And non trivial number of people want to kill growth.
Bringing up Palestine in this discussion is definitely a choice. Relating them as you have is special.
The amount of public figures advocating degrowth is low and declining. And I follow a lot of climate voices.
Everywhere you go you see people’s homes hoisting Palestine flags. You see it in restaurants. Cafes. You see graffiti and flyers.
It is definitely not normal levels of interest. It is religious levels of interest. I’m not saying it’s wrong however.
The only other event that brings this much passion is maybe Kings Day or Pride Parade. Neither come close
Here in Germany, not a single person I know is excited about the idea of growth. And a lot of people, even in tech are disgusted by generative AI.
As a Dutchman, what do you think is the sentiment?
Here’s a pic a mate from uni sent me (probably from Den Haag) https://imgur.com/a/HlTdw4P
> The duck says: QUACK ChatGPT into the trash bin.
This would be considered ridiculous to even protest about in third world countries like Syria/Iraq.
The Free Tibet "religion" was also a huge thing for a while in the 90's.
There are countless other examples. All with varying degrees of success.
The point is, there's nothing new about people being passionate about human rights. It has absolutely nothing to do with... well... whatever "degrowth" is.
Why do Europeans keep voting to be poor and miserable I’ll never understand. Anti-nuclear, anti technology.
A few of my friends went to Europe the past year and almost all of them came back disgusted at European outlook on growth and technology.
Back to AC... I have to fork out 4000€ to replace an aging AC in a small flat 60sqm (650 sq feet).
Just looking out of my window right now I can see 600 similar places, so that's 2.4mil EUR for a couple of (city) blocks.
As AC is to be added as it won't replace the winter central heating system we got in most condos -- well that's a lot of money.
Or is it because you're in germany and the taxes on electricity actually offset your CoP (Coefficient of Performance)?
Well, cancer is growth, nature and vitality, but not quite positive, is it?