Could new “sweating” paint help alleviate the world’s AC dependency?
Air con electricity use has peaked in recent years.
Scientists in Singapore, which often ranks as one of the most humid cities in the world, have developed a new cooling paint that works by reflecting sunlight and slowly releasing water, in a similar way to how the body produces sweat, per reporting from Science News.
Outstripping
That “sweating” element is what sets the new paint apart, ensuring that the product can be applied in more humid climes, unlike other paints that rely on the more traditional radiative method. While some cities have coated external walls and roofs with cooling paint for years — more than 10 million square feet of rooftops have been daubed with reflective paint since 2009 — the breakthrough from Singapore could reduce the world’s dependence on air conditioning, which accounts for a whopping ~7% of total electricity consumption, according to Our World In Data.
Though there’s still a chasm between rich and poor nations when it comes to air conditioning, related electricity usage has rocketed in the 21st century, as temperatures rise and AC becomes the norm in more homes around the world. In 2001, when 77% of US households had AC, compared to almost 90% in 2020, the world was using 972 terawatt-hours’ worth of electricity to power AC, fans, and other cooling tech, figures from the International Energy Agency show. By 2022, that had more than doubled.
Singapore’s first prime minister, Lee Kuan Yew, singled out air conditioning as “one of the signal inventions in history,” adding that it “changed the nature of civilization by making development possible in the tropics.” Now, an innovation from his compatriots could provide a more eco-friendly alternative.
