Another, rather terrifying, scenario has caught Lowes’ attention. The Atlantic meridional overturning circulation (AMOC) is a system of ocean currents that helps to distribute warm water from Earth’s southern reaches farther north. This has a big impact on the weather in North America and Europe, keeping these regions much warmer and wetter than they otherwise … Read more
%20-%20Credit%20Nostromo%20Energy.png "Cutting-Edge Technology Could Massively Reduce the Amount of Energy Used for Air Conditioning")
The AirJoule system consists of two chambers, each one containing surfaces coated with this special material. They take turns at dehumidifying a flow of air. One chamber is always drying air that is pushed through the system while the other gradually releases the moisture it previously collected. A little heat from the drying chamber gets … Read more
There are different kinds of heat pumps that are in principle even more efficient than air-source devices. Instead of absorbing warmth from the air, you can opt to harvest heat from the ground or even from bodies of water instead. Such systems tend to cost more, though. Patrick Wheeler, director of Vito Energy, describes a … Read more
By contrast, a heat pump works by circulating refrigerants and changing their pressure, and thus their temperature, both to grab thermal energy from outdoor air and then do the reverse in the summer to act like an air conditioner. Over the years, the appliances have gotten ever more efficient as their various components and refrigerants … Read more
So the demand is there, as is growing support from the federal and state governments. What’s lagging is the workforce—at least temporarily. And the US is nowhere near alone: Wherever heat pump adoption is growing, more workers need to train up to meet demand. “If you look at a place like, say, Finland, where pretty … Read more
