Taking the heat off: Smarter cooling technology tackles climate challenge

EU researchers are developing a smarter system of sustainable cooling, replacing toxic refrigerants with safer, more efficient, and recyclable metals.

As a young engineering student contemplating the direction of his doctoral research, Jaka Tušek knew he wanted to push the boundaries of science. "I wanted to work on breakthroughs, tackle something new that hasn't been done before."

Today, the Slovenian researcher is on the cusp of the first major breakthrough in cooling technologies in the last 100 years. His work is solving one of the fundamental challenges of our time: keeping cool in a warming world without polluting it further.

Time for change

The vapor-compression technology commonly used by fridges, air conditioners, and other cooling technology is more than a century old, and is relatively inefficient and bad for the environment.

While the most damaging refrigerants have been banned since 1989, those that replaced ...