New Delhi, November 13, 2018 : Government of India, Mission Innovation and Rocky Mountain Institute today launched The Global Cooling Prize, an international competition to find a residential cooling technology with at least five times less climate impact than the standard room air conditioning units. Over US$3 million will be awarded over the course of the two-year competition.
“The Government of India supports this innovation challenge, which aims to develop sustainable and efficient technology to provide thermal comfort to all, and invites applicants from around the world to apply for The Global Cooling Prize,” said Dr. Harsh Vardhan, Union Minister of Science & Technology, Earth Sciences, Environment, Forest and Climate Change at the Global Cooling Innovation Summit in New Delhi.
The prize is supported by Government of India, Mission Innovation and will be administered by Rocky Mountain Institute, Conservation X Labs, Alliance for an Energy Efficient Economy, and CEPT University. The Prize coalition will help identify the innovative cooling technology and support incubation, commercialization, and ultimately mass adoption around the world.
“A technology developed through the Global Cooling Prize has the opportunity to capture a US$20 billion market and transform the global market for the better,” said Iain Campbell, Senior Fellow, Rocky Mountain Institute.
Warming global temperatures, population growth, rising incomes, and urbanization will lead to an astounding five-fold increase in energy demand for air conditioners in non-OECD countries, according to a new report by Rocky Mountain Institute released today. The report, ‘Solving the Global Cooling Challenge’ finds that business-as-usual measures whilst important are insufficient to overcome the energy and emissions impact of projected room air conditioner growth and calls for a five times less climate impact solution.
“If we don’t do something about the growing global impact of air conditioning on our climate today, it will derail our best attempts to meet the Paris Agreement goal on emissions,” said Sir Richard Branson, Prize Ambassador.
A winning technology could prevent up to 100 gigatons of carbon emissions by 2050, and put the world on a pathway to mitigate up to 0.5˚C of global warming by 2100, according to the report.
