The American tycoon has just bet $ 20 million on the technology developed by the Blue Frontier company.
by
It is a colossal market in the making. Bill Gates could therefore not decently miss it. At a time when he invests in all directions in technological solutions, which are sometimes disputed, in order to fight against climate change, the founder of Microsoft this time set his sights on Blue Frontier, a young shoot in search of solutions more virtuous air conditioning for climate.
The American billionaire has just bet the trifle of $ 20 million (19.46 million euros), via his Breakthrough Energy Ventures, on this American start-up. According to the International Energy Agency, around 2 billion air conditioners are now in service worldwide. And this stock could, while heat waves intensify, grow by more than 50 % over the next ten years.
disturbing scenario
A disturbing scenario, especially since, according to the National Laboratory of Renewable Energies (Golden, Colorado) and the Palo Alto Research Center (California), air conditioning would already be responsible for almost 4 % of gas emissions Greenhouse effect. In an attempt to reduce this impact, Blue Frontier engineers count on a new evaporation cooling system, capable of removing air moisture more efficiently than conventional fluids, harmful to the ozone layer.
If they still use some of these gases – with the exception of chlorofluorocarbons, which many countries have prohibited – they say they do it in a significant quantity. In addition, this solution promotes a different storage system, which should allow it to consume less electricity during peak periods.
“We are currently counting on a reduction in equivalent emissions CO 2 from 3 to 5 tonnes each year per air conditioning unit Blue Frontier”, estimates John Hingley, vice-president of operations. Before clarifying that this decrease will come from both the reduction of emissions related to energy savings, and from the slightest use of refrigerants. These new air conditioners could be marketed with a limited number of customers in 2023 and 2024, before a larger launch launch in 2025. They will however not save sobriety.