Danmarks Frie Forsknings Fond (Independent Research Fund Denmark) has just funded AVM’s Green Transition project Enabling energy-efficient refrigeration through new magnetocaloric materials
About the project: Household and commercial refrigeration is responsible for 17% of global electrical energy consumption. It is estimated that by 2030, 13% of global greenhouse gas emissions will be due to refrigeration, unless a revolutionary technology comes along. With respect to conventional cooling, magnetic cooling is a transformational technology where 75% efficiency can be reached. Magnetic cooling does not rely on environmentally hazardous refrigerants such as fluorocarbons or chlorofluorocarbons, which are known to contribute to global warming. Despite the great energy saving potential of magnetic cooling, the technology is not widely used, as there is a lack of materials that demonstrate the magnetocaloric effect. We aim to close this gap through a systematic exploration of the most promising systems that demonstrate efficacy.