[ad_1]
Virgin Group co-founder Richard Branson has invested US $ 3 million in the new contest, which will encourage the production of more environmentally friendly air conditioners.
By Daniel Herborn
Published November 14, 2018
"Increasing energy consumption for cooling represents a huge risk to achieving our climate goals," Branson said in launching the Global Cooling Prize.
This prize could "literally help save the world from the disaster it faces".
The price comes as a result of the publication of a new report suggesting that the expansion of air conditioning alone could cause an increase in global temperature by half degrees by 2100.
Who can to take up the challenge of global cooling? @MIT @Stanford @GeorgiaTech @Cambridge_Uni @IITDehli? We challenge you! Global @CoolingPrize begins today: https://t.co/3mQte6vLLT
Richard Branson (@richardbranson) November 12, 2018
The Global Cooling Prize will promote the
The contest was jointly announced with the Indian Government, the Global Initiative for Clean Energy Mission Innovation and the non-profit organization Rocky Mountain Institute.
The price website indicates that the most advanced air-conditioning technology has achieved only 14% of its maximum theoretical efficiency and that most units operate at less than 8%.
The prize is to change that. Participating companies will have to produce air conditioning solutions that have a climate impact five times less than existing units and that can operate at twice the cost.
Next year, the award will reward 200,000 USD for 10 companies, facilitating the construction of prototypes. These prototypes will then be tested in laboratories and apartments in India. The winner will receive at least 1 million US dollars.
Iain Campbell, general manager of the Rocky Mountain Institute, also said the market was not rewarding energy-efficient air-conditioning units, but rather was driven by price-based competition. [19659005] Branson was optimistic that the market failure in the air conditioning sector could be corrected and stated that this price could offset the high cost of research and development in the field, which is a barrier to l & # 39; entry.
disrupting the airline industry, where a single Boeing 737 can cost $ 70 million, so I'm pretty sure we can do it with air conditioning, "he said.
Every summer gets warmer and it's important that everyone has access to cooling. Do you have an innovation that can help us stay cool without warming the planet? Apply for the Global Cooling Prize! https://t.co/oqzyopZVyQ pic.twitter.com/wxM2mOYZr4
– Erik Solheim (@ErikSolheim) November 12, 2018
The big picture: the number of Air conditioning units around the world are expected to skyrocket
The use of air conditioners is expected to increase to mitigate higher temperatures. According to a study conducted in 2017, up to 74% of the population could be exposed to lethal temperatures for at least 20 days a year by 2100.
India has experienced a particularly strong growth in the number of installed air conditioning units. to have 1 billion individual air conditioners by 2050.
The number of installed air conditioning systems in the world is expected to increase from about 1.2 billion currently to 4.5 billion by the middle here of the century.
Credit image header: Kris Krüg
[ad_2]
Source link
