Refrigerators are a real boon, however, they are the most power consuming electrical devices in a household other than the AC coolers. But if this German research bears fruit, we would not have to worry about huge electricity bill as the future generation of refrigerators would derive the energy to run from their adversary, heat.
Running on the relative theory that speaks of a hot compressor that cools the inside of the fridge, while the outer cover is hot, the researchers, from the Innovationszentrum Wiesenbusch Gladbeck along with the University of Applied Science, Gelsenkirchen, want to study this theory and find out mechanism to cool food items using heat.
In simpler terms, the relation between heat and cold is relative, meaning, to make the inside of a fridge cool, heat is produced. So, heat can produce coolness and vice versa. Basing this theory on the solar cooling or ammoniac-water absorption technique, which is not an unknown theory; these researchers wish to use the warmth of ovens and gas turbines to cool food items. Scientists have already built a prototype that will cool a complete cold storage with the heat from baking ovens.
Now, when we have plenty of heat in tropical countries like India, what more can be asked for. Sounds like a cool relief to a heat stricken country!
Source: Impactlab
