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Richard Branson (who asked for UK taxpayer money to repair his private island after hurricane Irma) Has set a climate change challenge:
As the world continues to warm, you can expect more and more folks to be turning to air conditioners to keep their living environments cool and comfortable. And in that sense, this energy-intensive technology will do plenty to exacerbate the very problem it is designed to solve. The Global Cooling Prize is a competition to help stop runaway climate change, by dangling US$3 million in prize money for the development of more energy-efficient cooling solutions.
The Global Cooling Prize is backed by the Indian government among other partners, with Richard Branson taking on the ambassadorial duties.
$3M could keep this site running for some time -- go team SoylentNews!
(Score: 2) by Gaaark on Tuesday December 04 2018, @01:09AM (11 children)
Build underground and let the earth cool your house/pad/man-cave.
Gimme me money!
--- Please remind me if I haven't been civil to you: I'm channeling MDC. ---Gaaark 2.0 ---
(Score: 3, Funny) by coolgopher on Tuesday December 04 2018, @01:14AM
Just don't delve too greedily and too deep... unless you prefer heating over cooling.
(Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Tuesday December 04 2018, @01:28AM (8 children)
There are literally hundreds of cooling solutions that are more energy efficient than heat-pump refrigerant, but none so easily mass produced and distributed.
Around here, ground water is a comfy 72F - all you have to do is drill two wells and put a marine AC (rejects heat to water) between them. Good luck getting anyone to service that, or adapt it as a solution for central AC in a house.
🌻🌻 [google.com]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday December 04 2018, @03:46AM (1 child)
Do you have an infinite supply of cool ground water? 'Cause if not, after a while:
- the pool of water warms up; *and*
- the heat gets back into the atmosphere anyway
(Score: 3, Informative) by JoeMerchant on Tuesday December 04 2018, @12:29PM
The ground is big, 20 acre feet of water have a hell of a thermal capacity, and eventually that heat does make its way back to the surface and atmosphere, where most of it radiates to space.
If solar energy didn't re-radiate to space, we'd all be vaporized within weeks.
🌻🌻 [google.com]
(Score: 2, Disagree) by suburbanitemediocrity on Tuesday December 04 2018, @07:16AM (2 children)
A marine AC is still a heat pump. Maximum theoretical efficiency is 1-cold/hot. Where cold and hot are absolute temperatures.
(Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Tuesday December 04 2018, @12:23PM
Heat pumps have been >400% efficiency for ages (cost of energy to move the heat), true that the cold is rejecting heat somewhere, but much of that rejected heat effectively radiates to space, particularly when the skies are clear (and sunny).
🌻🌻 [google.com]
(Score: 2, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday December 04 2018, @01:08PM
You may need to read up before saying stupid things again,
http://www.powerknot.com/2011/03/01/cops-eers-and-seers/ [powerknot.com]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seasonal_energy_efficiency_ratio#Theoretical_maximum [wikipedia.org]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday December 04 2018, @01:18PM (2 children)
Maybe, but (fellow Floridian here...) what do you do about the humidity without an A/C or similar device with condenser?
(Score: 2) by Phoenix666 on Tuesday December 04 2018, @02:23PM (1 child)
De-humidifier [homedepot.com]. There are also water coolers that distill water from air [triplepundit.com]; you win twice with that.
Cutting the humidity will decrease the perceived temperature. You might even be able to get away with no AC and a ceiling fan, but you'll find yourself drinking more water.
Washington DC delenda est.
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday December 04 2018, @02:50PM
Here's the thing, though: isn't a dehumidifier kind of just an A/C that dumps its heat back into the house? In which case someone in a warm, humid climate ends up being better off / more efficient with an A/C anyway? Which, I think, is why they don't even exist in places like Florida, but are common in places that are *cold* and humid.
Collecting water from the condenser seems like an easy adaptation for an A/C, too, if it actually makes sense.
Believe me, I'd love it if I didn't need to run my A/C as much, even more so if I didn't need one at all, but I've thought about it quite a bit, and clearly others have, too, and I don't really see a better solution, in existence or in theory. I'm open to being convinced, though.
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday December 04 2018, @02:11AM
Just a thought, pumping massive amounts of heat into the earth is probably going to wreak some havoc on soil dwelling critters and have serious unintended consequences.
With some good heat capture infrastructure we could probably recycle a lot of energy and reduce the excess heat pumped into our environment.