The Carbon Trust today launched ‘The Emerging Cold Economy’, a new report focusing on the increasing global demand for cooling and the opportunity for Britain to be a world leader in innovative low carbon cooling technologies.
The world’s expanding population and the growing middle class in emerging markets, is rapidly pushing up the demand for cooling. From buildings and supermarkets to data centres and medicine, the provision of cold is a vital foundation of modern society. By 2030 global power demand for cooling could grow by the equivalent of three times the current electricity capacity of the UK. At the same time, however, vast amounts of cold are wasted, for example during the re-gasification of LNG at import terminals, which could potentially be recycled to reduce the cost and environmental impact of cooling in both buildings and vehicles.
This insight has stimulated new thinking aimed at creating business and environmental value from the efficient integration of cold into the wider energy system, the “Cold Economy”.
David Sanders, Director, Innovation at the Carbon Trust, “Turning the Cold Economy from an idea into reality will depend on joined-up thinking and collaboration by industry, academia and government to develop, test and deploy novel solutions. With Britain’s rich history of innovation and engineering, we have a real opportunity to lead the way in low carbon cold technologies and drive innovative solutions from the lab to the market.”
... to continue reading you must be subscribed
