Climate tech chief: Europe sweats over heat problem America solved decades ago
It’s hot this week. As Europe swelters in the midst of another record-breaking heat wave, many American states are bracing for a similar event. The double whammy of heat and humidity is set to drive temperatures above 100°F.
But while both sides of the Atlantic are facing the heat, the reality for families and businesses could not be more different.
The difference, too, is the air conditioning.
Find yourself in the US this week and you will easily walk between air-conditioned offices, malls, and houses, without registering the heat outside.
In Europe, that same week means hunting down a desk fan or running to one of the few public places with actual cooling.
About 90% of US homes have air conditioning; in some parts of Europe, that figure is closer to 20%. While America is built to withstand high temperatures, large swaths of Europe remain woefully unprepared.
To some extent, this makes sense. America has traditionally experienced high temperatures and its homes and buildings have been purposely built to withstand them. On the other hand, much of Europe was built for a completely different climate.
The temperature has been rising in Europe for years. This recent heatwave is not an isolated event – every summer brings high temperatures and great risks to infrastructure and public health.
Last year, I wrote about the economic costs of Europe’s cooling gap. That debt obligation has hardened into an unavoidable threat. The heat is on, and adaptation is essential.
Estimates suggest that Europe could be at risk of losing up to 7% of its combined GDP over the next four years due to heat-related losses. That is different from the even greater costs of human life. More than 1,000 deaths have been recorded from this disease alone.
So why are we so far behind the US when it comes to protecting against extreme heat?
Demand for cooling infrastructure has grown significantly in recent months. In the UK, widespread AC installation was an important recommendation for adaptation to extreme heat. And in France, Marine Le Pen is benefiting from opposition to some of her plans to support AC across the country.
It’s a worthy ambition – however a key obstacle remains: the grid.
Grid Suffering from Heatstroke
Europe’s aging grid infrastructure was not designed to cope with the heat.
This week showed the impact. Tens of thousands of homes were left without electricity in France as the grid buckled under the heat. In the UK, the national grid operator is making its first ever bid of the summer for more power, as forecasts predicted an imbalance between supply and demand. Meanwhile, faltering power lines threatened to halt train services.
The American grid is facing the same physical stress from the heat – overheated wires, melting lines – but Europe is facing an additional layer: a significant lack of capacity to absorb the new demand on the cooling infrastructure.
This “thermal bottleneck” – above-average demand clashing with an overheated grid – is Europe’s defining risk. While the US has widespread AC already connected to its networks, Europe is trying to build it on top of an already overloaded grid. Connecting hundreds of thousands of energy-intensive AC units can push ailing networks to the brink.
The solution lies in faster, smarter infrastructure planning – investment is ongoing, but the pace must accelerate.
Modeling a Cooler Europe
Addressing this challenge begins with a more advanced, intelligent infrastructure model to identify exactly where grids are most vulnerable, how installations will affect supply, and where targeted repairs can unlock the capacity needed for new connections.
This gives planners a clear picture of the existing infrastructure and enables smarter decisions that reduce costs and disruption.
The same technology can safely simulate future climates, allowing us to see how energy networks will react and take preventive measures. Understanding which power lines are most likely to fail when temperatures allow for targeted maintenance or supply adjustments to keep local homes and businesses connected. This type of future proofing is important on both sides of the Atlantic.
Better modeling can also speed up solar connections – the sun thrives on heat and can continuously power power-hungry AC systems. Currently, the European grid cannot safely absorb the sun’s heat, as the blackout in Iberia showed with stunning clarity. Any sudden increase in supply or demand risks failure.
The US is facing a similar problem: grid constraints and permitting delays threaten to halt solar power. On both sides of the Atlantic, renewable energy is there to power adaptation and cooling – but the grids need significant upgrades to handle it.
As extreme weather intensifies, Europe needs data-led planning to build cooling capacity as the US example proves it can – without letting infrastructure fall through the cracks.
Europe cannot simply copy the American blueprint, but it has no choice but to act. It failed to adapt, and as temperatures rise, Europe will sweat the consequences while its neighbors on the other side of the Atlantic end up cooling off.
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