USA: A radiative sky cooling panel is one of 20 projects competing for ten $25,000 prizes in this year’s Keeling Curve Prize.
The Keeling Curve Prize awards prizes to projects around the globe considered to have significant potential to reduce greenhouse gas emissions or increase carbon uptake. The prize is named after scientist Charles David Keeling’s famous Keeling Curve, which has been showing an increase in CO2 levels in the Earth’s atmosphere since 1958.
Established in 2016 by scientists from Stanford University, and based in San Francisco, SkyCool Systems’ panels are basically high-tech mirrors designed to cool buildings more efficiently than traditional air conditioning systems. They are said to reflect about 97% of the sunlight while simultaneously being able to emit the surface’s thermal energy through the atmosphere.
“The Keeling Curve Prize adds enormous value to the effort to curb global warming,” said Dan Kammen, a KCP advisory council member and Distinguished Professor of Energy at UC Berkeley. “It identifies emerging climate solutions, funds them directly, and raises their profile among other potential funders. And the award process is designed to move prize money to these important projects quickly and efficiently.”
The winners will be announced in June.
Cooling without electricity – 5 September 2017
USA: Scientists at Stanford University claim to have developed radiative cooling panels that can reduce the temperature of flowing water to 5ºC below ambient. Read more…