Amrith Ramkumar of The Wall Street Journal reports on the race to build better air conditioners.
- Air conditioners, which are critical to adapting to climate change, are also a leading cause of global temperature increases.
- Innovators and researchers are developing new air conditioners that are more energy efficient by replacing refrigerants in AC units with a liquid salt solution.
- This solution removes humidity (which increases efficiency) and can effectively store energy at peak times when the grid is strained on hot days.
- Free market innovation is advancing climate solutions.
“When air conditioning is needed, the solution is brought in contact with air, absorbing water and removing humidity. The air is cooled within a component called a heat exchanger using a high-efficiency method to lower air temperature by exposing it to water. The dry air absorbs the water, lowering its temperature and the temperature of the heat exchanger. That air that absorbs the water becomes warm and humid and is moved outside. At the same time, air that moves through the chilled heat exchanger flows into the room that is being cooled.”
Read the full article here.
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