Contact Information: Contact Name: Molly Allington
E-mail: mollyallington@albotherm.com Website: https://www.albotherm.com/
Funding required: £600,000
Albotherm are developing technologies that control our world’s most powerful natural resource, the light of the sun. Albotherm have developed coatings that reversibly transition from transparent to opaque white as they heat up, reflecting the sun’s rays and passively cooling buildings to reduce carbon emissions. The Problem The world needs to produce 50% more food by 2050 to feed a population that will reach nearly 10 billion in this time. Meanwhile arable land has decreased by 30% in the last 40 years due to the effects of urbanisation and climate change. It is essential that we increase the productivity of the arable land we have available to ensure future food security for our population. Greenhouses can produce up to 50 times more food than open land production, helping us feed more people with less, however they are prone to overheating in the summer. This can damage up to 25% of the crop and so it is necessary to find environmentally friendly ways to cool greenhouses to maximise food production. Moreover, 10% of our global energy consumption is dedicated to air conditioning. This equates to 38,000 tonnes of CO2 emitted each year in the UK alone, purely from air conditioning. This demand is expected to triple by 2050 due to an increase in global temperatures. Using fossil fuel derived energy for air conditioning traps us in a Catch 22 as the warmer our planet gets, the more energy we need to keep cool.
The Solution Albotherm have developed coatings that reversibly transition from transparent to opaque white as they heat up, reducing solar gain in hot weather to passively cool buildings. In greenhouses this allows the cooler morning and evening light through while still protecting crops from the heat of the midday sun, boosting yields by up to 20%. The rule of thumb for growers is that 1% extra light means 1% extra yield, which can bring up to £14,000 of additional revenue per hectare. Moreover, growers paint their greenhouses with white shade paints every spring to prevent overheating. These paints then have to be removed at the end of Summer, which is time consuming and also costs our customer £3,500 per hectare annually. Moreover, the run off from the paints causes an estimated 1000 tonnes of microplastic pollution each year across the globe. Albotherm’s technology can be left up for several years at a time, hugely reducing costs for our customers as well as reducing environmental impact. In buildings our coatings reflect heat from the surface of a building, preventing overheating and reducing the need for air conditioning by around 10%, saving customers money and reducing carbon emissions.
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