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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: 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.