TEMPEST NEWS | AUGUST 2021 - MENU - ARE WE TOO RELIANT ON AIR CONDITIONING?
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8/2/2021 Tempest News | August 2021
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Posted by Weatherflow ● August, 2021
TEMPEST NEWS | AUGUST 2021
ARE WE TOO RELIANT ON AIR CONDITIONING?
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8/2/2021 Tempest News | August 2021
P rofessor Eric D ea n Wils o n at Queens Co llege in Ne w Yo rk tea che s cli m ate -th e m e d
writing and enviro n men ta l j u stice. He ha s a lso spent the la st six yea rs re s ea rch i ng
the histor y and ef fects o f a rtif icia l co o ling metho ds o n o ur env i ronm e nt , w i th h i s
findings begging u s to a s k th e questio n: a re we to o relia nt o n a i r-condi ti oni ng? Read
M ore >>>
THE OREGON WILDFIRE IS CREATING ITS OWN WEATHER
Oregon’s Bootleg f ire h a s bu rn ed over 6 0 0 squa re miles in so uth e rn Oregon s i nce
early July and is th e th ird- la rgest wildf ire in the state’s histo r y. Fu e le d by prolonge d
drought in the a rea a lo n g with excessively hig h temperatures, th e Bootleg fi re h a s
spread so rapidly th at it is ca u s ing the fo rmatio n o f pyro cumulu s clou ds ; clou ds th at
only form in wildf ire co n ditio n s that beco me thundersto rms. Read More >>>
EXTREME HEAT COULD CAUSE POWER AND WATER SHORTAGES
With over 75 millio n peo ple liv ing under dro ug ht co nditio ns, a nd a qu a rte r of th e
countr y described a s experien cing a n extreme o r extra o rdina r y drou g h t , expe rts a re
urging areas of th e So u th west to prepa re fo r electricity a nd wate r s h orta ge s . Fa ctors
like infrequent ra in fa ll a n d a lrea dy low water le vels ca use g rowi ng conce rn from
experts on hydro power a va ila bility in states like Ca lifo rnia . Read More >>>
...w ith Professor Y i Cu i, a material scie ntist ofte n d e scrib e d as on e of the m ost
influential scie ntific mind s working on climate solutions.
P rofessor Yi Cui s er ves a s directo r fo r the Pre court Institute for E n e rgy, where he
applies nanotech n o lo g y to s o lve enviro nmenta l pro blems a ro u nd wate r, a i r
pollution, grid-sca le en erg y stora ge, a nd sma rt wea ra ble textile s . Wi th ri s i ng
temperatures acro s s th e g lo be ca using distress a nd reco rd heat-re late d death s ,
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8/2/2021 Tempest News | August 2021
Tempest reached o u t to P ro fes s o r Cui to ta lk a bo ut innovatio n on th e h ori zon th at
can manage our bo dy 's a da ptatio n to extreme temperatures.
Q: THANKS FOR TALKING ABOUT THE WEATHER WITH US TODAY,
PROFESSOR CUI. YOU WENT TO SCHOOL ON THE EAST COAST, AND NOW
YOU ARE AT STANFORD. HOW DO YOU FIND WEST COAST LIVING?
A: I did my postdo c at Berkele y a nd fell in love with Ca lifo rnia a nd th e weath e r h e re .
I looked e ver ywh ere fo r a pro fesso r j o b so I co uld sta y!
Q: HOW DO YOU LIKE THE WEATHER NOW? FIRES, AIR POLLUTION,
EARTHQUAKES...
A: I have been at Sta n fo rd fo r 1 6 yea rs a nd a m wo rking o n so me of th e bi g ge st
climate problems in th e wo rld. I g uess I'm using my life a s a n expe ri m e nt to
experience natura l dis a ster- related e vents! But wildf ires a re becom i ng m ore
frequent , and th is is a climate cha nge issue. La st yea r wa s terrible du ri ng th e da y -
you didn't see the s u n , o n ly a red-co lo red sky. Yo u ca n't ima g in e h ow s ca r y i t wa s .
Air pollution wa s a wf u l, wh ich is a lso so mething I'm tr ying to s olve .
Q: TELL US ABOUT YOUR WORK AT THE PRECOURT INSTITUTE.
A: First , carbon emis s io n s a re huge. One -third co mes f ro m electri ci ty a nd a noth e r
third from trans po rtatio n . Bu ilding energ y co nsumptio n is a noth e r 1 3 %. So i f you
wan t to decarbon ize th e wh o le eco no my, we need to lo o k at what h a s a h i g h i m pa ct
and global scale. Yo u 've got to wo rk o n the rig ht pro blem, a nd we a re work i ng m a i nly
on energ y and deca rbo n izin g the electric g rid using so la r. We are i nve nti ng ne w
ty pes of batteries a n d sto ra ge, n e w types o f textiles to co o l a nd wa rm th e h u m a n
body and save bu ildin g 's en erg y co nsumptio n.
Q: HOW DO YOU GET THESE IDEAS OUT IN THE REAL WORLD?
A: By now, I've sta rted f ive co mpa nies. The f irst o ne wa s amp rius, a high-energ y
lithium batter y. Th e s eco n d, 4CAir, is air filtration th at removes pa rticles f ro m the
air. During Covid, 4 CA ir h a d th e best n9 5 ma sks with fa nta stic breath a bi li ty a nd th e
only N95 version fo r ch ildren .
I've had so many in ven tio n s over the pa st yea rs. If I sta rt o ne com pa ny now, i t w i ll be
too slow to get ou t to ma rket , so I've set up my own techno lo g y a cce le rator com pa ny
to accelerate mu ltiple tech n o lo g ies simulta neo usly. I rea lly enjoy doi ng th i s a nd ca n
see the impact .
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Q: HOW ARE YOU SOLVING FOR EXTREME TEMPERATURES IN YOUR LAB?
A: I have applied n a n otech n o lo g y to materia ls science, a nd we h a ve de ve lope d ne w
clothing that wa rms a n d co o ls the huma n bo dy. Ultimately, it wi ll s a ve a lot of
energ y - in terms o f a ir co n ditioning a nd heating .
Q: WILL YOU EXPLAIN HOW YOUR TECHNOLOGY-DRIVEN MATERIALS WORK
TO HEAT OR COOL THE HUMAN BODY?
A: Human body temperatu re is 3 7 deg rees C /9 8 .6 F. Our bo dy natu ra lly ra di ate s ou t
MIR (mid-infrared ra diatio n ). To keep the bo dy wa rm, yo u wa nt to pre ve nt ra di ati on
from going out . To co o l, yo u want to get that ra diatio n o ut .
My lab invented a n e w ty pe o f fa bric that lets MIR f ro m the huma n body pa s s di re ctly
through it , coolin g by a bo u t 3 ° C. If yo u feel co o ler, this materia l w i ll a llow you to
turn down the AC by 3 deg rees , sa ving 3 0 % o f energ y. In winter, we ca n s a ve a noth e r
30-40% by keepin g yo u wa rmer so yo u ca n turn the heat down. Th i s i s h ow we wa nt
to change the wo rld.
Q: WHERE CAN YOU GET THIS FABRIC?! I WANT IT NOW!
A: I just formed a n e w co mpa n y Life La b D esig n. We ha ve a webs i te la u nch i ng s oon,
and this is going to s a ve lives . Our ke y is using both science a nd de s i g n. La st we e k
we closed our Series A f in a n cin g , a nd we hired a supersta r f ro m North Fa ce a nd a re
building out the tea m. Th e goa l is to minimize the use o f AC a nd expa nd th e
temperature range yo u live in a n d feel co mfo rta ble in.
Q: WHAT OTHER APPLICATIONS WOULD YOU USE THIS CLOTHING FOR?
A: Now, people ca n wea r cloth in g to mo derate their temperature . We a re th i nk i ng of
building a house th at ca n wea r clothing . Think o f wa llpa per - o n th e i ns i de or ou ts i de
that saves furth er en erg y ? We a re wo rking o n that , a nd that will proba bly be i ts ow n
start-up.
Q: HOW DO YOU FIND TIME TO TEACH, INVENT AND START COMPANIES? AND
WHAT'S NEXT?
A: I want to get mo re peo ple to wo rk in this spa ce o f susta ina bili ty. I h a ve be e n
educating a lot of P h .D . stu den ts, a nd I ha ve now mo re tha n 7 0 profe s s ors a rou nd th e
world working on s u sta in a bility issues. Usua lly, pro fesso rs like doi ng s ci e nce a nd
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inventing tech in a u n ivers ity lab. I'm interested in do ing that a nd th e n a ls o m a k i ng
it a scalable solu tio n .
A s for what's next , water f iltratio n is lo o king ver y exciting . Eenote ch i s a wate r
filtration technolo g y th at dis in fects ba cteria a nd meta ls to ma ke wate r s a fe for
drinking. And Ampriu s will h a ve a n IP O this yea r. We a re j ust go i ng ste p by ste p!
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