New Delhi, March 8 (IANS) Union Environment Minister Harsh Vardhan on Friday released the India Cooling Action Plan (ICAP) that seeks to provide an integrated approach towards cooling and related areas including reduction in the cooling demand, in order to reduce emissions.

Reduction of cooling demand across sectors by 20-25 per cent and refrigerant demand by 25-30 per cent by 2037-38 are the goals of the ICAP.

Curtailing the cooling energy requirements by 25-40 per cent by 2037-38 is also a part of the ICAP goals besides training and certification of 100,000 serving sector technicians by 2022-23.

"The action plan we have released today could be the first any country has done so. We have worked with all stakeholders and incorporated inputs from global experiences," Harsh Vardhan told reporters.

"We can see results now. The mindset of the industry has changed. New air conditioners, refrigerators are being manufactured with new dimensions and new thoughts."

He had released a draft ICAP in September last year during the World Ozone Day celebrations.

Encompassing refrigerant transition, enhancing energy efficiency and better technology options with a 20-year time horizon are among the features of the plan.

Assessment of cooling requirements across the sectors in the next 20 years and the associated refrigerant demand and energy use is one of the objectives of the ICAP.

The ICAP also focuses on providing skill training to RAC (Refrigeration and Air Conditioning) service technicians and suggests interventions in each sector to provide for sustainable cooling and thermal comfort for all.

It also aims to map the available technologies to cater to the cooling requirement including passive interventions, refrigerant-based technologies, and alternative technologies such as not-in-kind technologies.

It also seeks developing a research and development (R&D) innovation ecosystem for indigenous development of alternative technologies.

--IANS spk/rs/bg