Creating ground breaking systems that will revolutionise the way we cool and heat our economy.
Barocal is developing breakthrough technologies to decarbonise the cooling and heating sector, which accounts for 40% of global energy consumption.
Based on 15 years of research, it’s ‘barocaloric’ material forms the basis for entirely new systems that deliver two to three times greater energy efficiency and can be used in air-conditioners, fridges and heat pumps. This minimises the fugitive emissions from an industry that contributes significantly to global warming.
“Heating and cooling accounts for 38% of the UK’s CO₂ emissions. So the government’s commitment to a 78% cut in carbon emissions by 2035 means there is a growing need for new low-carbon domestic heating systems.”
Barocaloric materials
Instead of using refrigerant gases with high global warming potential, Barocal’s technology uses new solid-state, temperature-changing materials. Cheap and non-toxic, these are organic materials that release and absorb heat at different pressures as they change volume. Known as barocaloric materials, they are more efficient than fluid refrigerants. And, as they are solids, they are more environmentally friendly and easier to recycle at the end of a product’s lifetime.
A spinout from the Cambridge laboratories of Professor Xavier Moya, the work on the technology began and developed as a joint project among Cambridge’s Department of Materials Science and Metallurgy, the Polytechnic University of Catalonia, and the University of Barcelona.
In 2019, Barocal was the sole European finalist in the Global Cooling Prize – an international innovation competition designed to stimulate invention and production of super-efficient and climate-friendly residential cooling solutions. Established by a coalition led by the Government of India along with the Rocky Mountain Institute, the competition attracted 139 teams from 31 countries.
In 2022, the team secured a £1.3 million investment led by IP Group plc (now Kiko Ventures), which focuses on funding innovations to address some of the world’s most pressing challenges. Cambridge Enterprise participated in the funding as part of a four year sustainability initiative that aligns with the University’s leadership on and commitment to Net Zero.
Image Credits: Barocal, Getty Images
