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Air conditioning systems in New Delhi, India: technology that is more than 100 years old
Photo: Saumya Khandelwal / NYT / Redux / laif
The humid heat in the laboratory of the Indian CEPT University in Ahmedabad is almost unbearable.
Temperatures of up to 44 degrees Celsius and a humidity of more than 90 percent sometimes prevail in the rooms, conditions like in a steam bath.
But the test setup at the technology university in western India should not be an imposition for the staff.
Rather, it is an endurance test for air conditioning systems.
The “Global Cooling Prize” is the name of the competition that is now entering the decision-making phase in India.
The winner can look forward to prize money of at least one million US dollars.
The participants are united by a noble goal: the engineers compete for the most climate-friendly room cooler of all time.
Researchers expect electricity consumption to rise rapidly
More than 1.2 billion air conditioning systems are currently in operation on earth.
Experts fear that the number could rise to 4.5 billion by 2050.
In 50 years' time, between one and three billion people could live in regions of the earth that lie outside of the »climatic niche« suitable for humans, warn researchers in the specialist journal »Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences«.
Above all, the growing middle class in emerging countries with hot and humid climates such as India, Indonesia and Brazil will then be able to afford cooling.
Researchers expect electricity consumption to rise rapidly.
At the same time, gaseous refrigerants, which are a thousand times more climate-effective than CO₂, are constantly leaking from conventional air conditioning systems.
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