In the summer of 2019, Paris has never been hotter, nor have Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands. The hottest summers in Europe in the past 500 years have all come in the past 17 years, scientists say. Several heat waves have been linked to human-caused climate change — and in the years ahead, they say, many more are likely to scorch temperate zones like northern Europe.
As the world faces a looming and potentially calamitous “cold crunch”, with demand for air conditioning and refrigeration growing so fast that it threatens to smash pledges and targets for global warming.
Worldwide power consumption for air conditioning alone is forecast to surge 33% by 2050, as developing world incomes rise and urbanisation advances. Already, the US uses as much electricity to keep buildings cool as the whole of Africa uses on everything. China and India are fast catching up. By mid-century people will use more energy for cooling than heating.
Rising air conditioning needs will come with a range of challenges. Increasing electric power demands will place a greater strain on electric systems, potentially requiring costly repairs and maintenance efforts in the years to come. On top of that, much of the energy used for cooling will be generated by burning more carbon emitting coal and oil.
Vehicle air conditioners use 7bn to 10bn gallons of petrol annually. Each home with an air conditioner emits about two tonnes of carbon dioxide into the air each year. With all these consequences when Air Conditioners look like an uber to doomsday, how do we survive? Isn’t favourable temperature looks like a Human Right?
To fight this problem on some levels, Engineers at the University of California San Diego have developed a wearable patch that could provide personalized cooling and heating at home, work, or on the go. The soft, stretchy patch cools or warms a user's skin to a comfortable temperature and keeps it there as the ambient temperature changes. It is powered by a flexible, stretchable battery pack and can be embedded in clothing. Researchers say wearing it could help save energy on air conditioning and heating, thus solving the related issues on holistic levels. "This type of device can improve your personal thermal comfort whether you are commuting on a hot day or feeling too cold in your office," said Renkun Chen, a professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering at UC San Diego who led the study.
The patch is made of thermoelectric alloys - materials that use electricity to create a temperature difference and vice versa - sandwiched between stretchy elastomer sheets. The device physically cools or heats the skin to a temperature that the wearer chooses.
Sony, has already entered the market segment with their wearable ACs- Reon Pocket, that can be tucked with your clothes.
The company claims to have adopted Peltier element for this AC which is normally used in car and wine coolers. The users would be able to change the temperature of this AC by smartphone via Bluetooth connection. The product is a crowdfunded project by Sony and is currently available only in Japan.
Watch the video here
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=9&v=2dlzdZlbq2Q
Apart from Sony, Embr Labs, a startup founded by three MIT PhD students, launched Embr Waves at CES 2018 with similar functioning.
Watch the video here
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t0aLr9fNbfw
