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My intent is not to bash solar and wind, nor to<br />
say that nuclear energy is risk-free. I only wish<br />
to convey a sobering reality: nuclear power is<br />
the best choice for the world. And if we can<br />
convince politicians and citizens alike to even<br />
consider that possibility, we are one step closer<br />
to having nine billion fully-powered people.<br />
Sources:<br />
American Nuclear Society<br />
Chernobyl Forum Assessment Report<br />
Journal of Contemporary Asia<br />
UNSCEAR<br />
New York Times<br />
World Wildlife Fund<br />
Clean and Safe Energy Coalition<br />
Sustainable Startups<br />
OxiCool: A Cleaner Approach to Air<br />
Conditioning<br />
Connor Lippincott – Senior Member, Academic Committee<br />
This is the first in a series of articles about startups and small companies working on sustainable energy solutions. This<br />
month’s focus is OxiCool, Inc., a company that is amidst their first product roll-out after 6 years of work.<br />
I first learned about OxiCool at the Penn Start-<br />
Up Career Fair, where I met their CEO,<br />
Ravikant Barot, and their Director of<br />
Administration and Sustainability, Emma Kaye.<br />
Barot, a Wharton MBA Graduate, started the<br />
company in 2009 through the Frederick<br />
Innovative Technology Center, Inc. incubator.<br />
Since then they have worked with both the<br />
military and large trucking companies to make<br />
and distribute an air conditioning system that<br />
avoids the environmentally harmful gases<br />
present in most air conditioners today. Kaye<br />
told me that they have broken ties with the<br />
military for now since “there was too much red<br />
tape” but that this summer was going to see<br />
their first product release with an unnamed<br />
trucking company.<br />
Their product, which they bill as “the world’s<br />
only truly green air conditioner,” simply uses<br />
water in the place of other, less ‘green’<br />
refrigerants. It’s a simplified system, requiring<br />
only the unit and a heat source. This works well<br />
for motor vehicles, especially large trucks,<br />
which generate plenty of heat on their own. A<br />
test run at a 2012 Marine Corps event showed<br />
that the unit was able to reduce the<br />
temperature of 115°F water nearly<br />
instantaneously to 60°F. They also claim that<br />
their unit can save 90% of trucking air<br />
conditioning fuel costs. Their claims are<br />
impressive, and it seems as though they have a<br />
final product that will be able to live up to<br />
these expectations.<br />
In the broader scope of things, the lack of<br />
fluorocarbons in this system is promising. Most<br />
systems in developed countries have phased<br />
out chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), which directly<br />
deplete the ozone layer as a result of the 1987<br />
Montreal Protocol. However, most refrigeration<br />
units still use hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) which<br />
do not deplete the ozone layer but still<br />
contribute to global warming. One of the most<br />
widely used refrigerant blends, HFC-134a, has<br />
a global warming potential (GWP) of ~1300—a<br />
significant amount. Limiting the use of these<br />
agents is definitely good for the environment.<br />
However, this system does still require a large<br />
heat source, which can often bring<br />
unsustainable methods into the equation.<br />
OxiCool even claims that its “technology
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