European Commission officials privately acknowledge that air conditioning is essential during increasingly frequent heatwaves, as passive cooling measures such as shading and insulation will not always be sufficient. But as cooling demand rises, they also argue that relying solely on air conditioning would drive up electricity consumption, require additional power generation and leave households facing higher energy bills, particularly given today’s high electricity prices. “Air conditioning is definitely one of the tools and a very necessary tool. In some cases, insulation or other passive strategies are not sufficient,” one EU official said on condition of anonymity, after a brutal heatwave…