As local weather change pushes temperatures larger world wide, demand for air-con is rising quickly.
The International Energy Agency (IEA) estimates that vitality demand for area cooling could more than triple by 2050, pushed largely by the speedy unfold of air-con.
But these cooling techniques are a big local weather drawback of their very own.
Most cooling know-how in use depends on vapor-compression know-how, which circulates chemical refrigerants by a compressor. “The cooling sector has historically been very risk-averse,” mentioned Berardo Matalucci, co-founder and CEO of MIMiC Systems, a Brooklyn-based firm constructing different cooling know-how that replaces cumbersome compressor models for inns, workplaces and houses. “Almost every air conditioner is on 19th-century innovations.”
Jarad Mason, an affiliate professor of chemistry and chemical biology at Harvard University, who research stable refrigerants for cooling techniques, defined that “pretty much every air conditioner, refrigerator and heat pump that you use in the US has a vapor compression system that uses a fluorocarbon-based refrigerant.”
Those refrigerants, also called hydrofluorocarbons, are potent greenhouse gases, “orders of magnitude (stronger) than carbon dioxide,” Mason mentioned.
Greenhouse gases heat the planet by trapping warmth that might in any other case escape into area, and even small leaks of refrigerants from air conditioners can have an outsized local weather influence.
Even although these cooling techniques are designed as closed loops, refrigerant leakage is widespread.
“It’s not practical at scale to make these systems leak-free, and still cheap enough to be commercially viable,” Mason mentioned.
According to Mason, refrigerant gases, together with fluorocarbon gases utilized in fridges and warmth pumps, contribute round 2% to three% of world greenhouse gasoline emissions, approaching the local weather influence of the whole aviation trade.
Matalucci provides that, “as refrigerant escapes into the atmosphere, it also causes a lack of efficiency. So (appliances) draw more and more electricity.”
That inefficiency issues as cooling is the fastest-growing supply of vitality demand within the constructing sector, in keeping with the IEA. It accounts for 10% of world electrical energy demand.
Mason defined that refrigerants are more and more being banned all through the world, however progress is slower within the US. “Europe has switched many cooling systems to propane, which has much lower global warming potential, but it’s obviously very flammable and that creates potential safety issues.”
“Over the past few years, there has been a really strong push to try to find alternatives to compression systems,” Matalucci mentioned.
The options fall below a broad class generally known as solid-state cooling or different cooling applied sciences, techniques that keep away from refrigerants altogether.
Instead of evaporating and condensing refrigerant gases, solid-state techniques use intrinsic adjustments inside solids to maneuver warmth, Matalucci defined. MIMiC focuses on thermoelectric cooling, a know-how that strikes warmth utilizing electrons in stable supplies resembling bismuth, tellurium and antimony. The firm can be experimenting with different compounds, together with silver and selenium, to drive down prices whereas strengthening efficiency.
“You don’t have volatile refrigerants that could potentially get into the atmosphere,” Matalucci mentioned. “There are no moving parts whatsoever. Zero.” No shifting elements means fewer alternative parts over time, much less materials waste, and decrease prices.
The solid-state cooling market is forecast to develop quickly. The world air-conditioning market is valued at roughly $160 billion and is projected to achieve $308 billion by 2035. By distinction, the solid-state cooling market was valued slightly below $1 billion in 2024 however is projected to develop to $4.55 billion by 2032.
According to Mason, solid-state cooling techniques had been developed in the course of the twentieth century however have traditionally been confined to area of interest purposes like moveable coolers, spacecrafts and submarines, the place reliability and security are main priorities.
“One would be hard-pressed to find a solid-state device that’s being used at scale for air conditioning,” Mason mentioned. Not solely are solid-state gadgets dearer, “one of the biggest challenges is reaching an energy efficiency, or coefficient of performance, that is comparable to existing systems,” he mentioned.
According to knowledge from the nonprofit, world vitality techniques suppose tank Rocky Mountain Institute, standard air conditioners sometimes function at a mean coefficient of efficiency (COP) between two and 4, with probably the most environment friendly techniques reaching round 5 or 6 below optimum circumstances. By distinction, solid-state cooling gadgets have demonstrated a variety of COPs from beneath one to effectively above 10. Matalucci and Mason agree that almost all solid-state techniques have but to match the efficiencies of standard air conditioners.
“MIMiC is increasing the efficiency of traditional solid-state technology,” Matalucci mentioned. “We are targeting efficiencies comparable to conventional air conditioners, but in the near future, we are confident that we can surpass those efficiencies as solid-state materials improve.”
Matalucci mentioned that the supplies and manufacturing strategies MIMiC is creating would drastically scale back the price and greenhouse gasoline emissions of its cooling know-how by reducing each the electrical energy required to run the techniques and the emissions related to their manufacturing.
“When it comes to air conditioners, we estimated emissions reductions of 3% to 20% over a 15-year timeframe” if a person property switches from conventional air-con to MIMiC modules.
Currently, there are just a few corporations which have solid-state merchandise in the marketplace. Phononic, an organization based mostly in North Carolina, focuses on solid-state cooling options for knowledge facilities. Magnotherm, based mostly in Germany, develops solid-state cooling know-how that strikes warmth utilizing magnetic fields for options in food-retail areas.
Matalucci believes {that a} key differentiator that units MIMiC aside within the solid-state cooling market is the modularity of its know-how, enabling customization in smaller areas. Instead of replicating the massive central air conditioners sometimes used immediately for house and office buildings, the corporate has developed modular, room-scale models that may be mixed as wanted for particular person apartments, rooms or workplaces. These models will be networked collectively into what the corporate describes as thermal vitality networks, an strategy that extra intently resembles conventional radiators, fan coils or packaged terminal models than trendy central AC techniques.
Matalucci mentioned these networks transfer warmth when and the place it’s wanted, permitting the corporate to focus on mid-to-high-rise buildings as its first utility. “The more capacity you need, the more elements you can aggregate, like a Lego block,” he mentioned.
That design has already moved past the prototype stage. In August 2025, MIMiC put in its first pilot solid-state local weather management system within the house of a person residing with a spinal twine harm in Vancouver, Canada.
As of now, below low-volume manufacturing, Matalucci mentioned that models just like the one in Vancouver price round twice as a lot as standard compressor techniques. “While this is still in line with premium products, we know that we have to bring down the cost to make it accessible for mass adoption. This is why we are investing heavily in R&D to reduce the material and manufacturing costs,” he mentioned.
Solid-state techniques require no refrigerant charging, no compressors and far fewer mechanical parts that may fail over time. Matalucci estimates this could translate into “a 10% to 15% reduction in the cost of ownership” for households, whereas eliminating refrigerant-related emissions completely.
Matalucci mentioned that MIMiC is working towards making its models commercially obtainable and is discussing pre-orders with early adopters. “Our goal is to have a first production run by early next year, hopefully sooner,” he mentioned.