So, with that long introduction – - here is some great new technology! Researchers in the UK have found a cheap way to create a magnetic-cooling refrigerator that could cut energy usage (for that appliance) up to 40%. Considering that fridges generally account for about 15% of a home’s energy bill, I think that is a pretty big deal — this new technology could reduce usage in each home by 7%! Not bad. Seems to me something like that is a no-brainer. The only question will be: what to do with the old ones? Well, they make GREAT containers for Solar Batch Water Heaters, for a start Or perhaps raised garden beds? Hmm… I figure we have a few years to think about it, since it will take a while for them to put the technology into the market. And they’ll need to research the fridge’s effect on pacemakers…

“Researchers at the University of Cambridge have discovered a material that gives a whole new complexion to the term ‘fridge magnet’. When this alloy is placed in a magnetic field, it gets colder. Karl Sandeman and his co-workers think that their material – a blend of cobalt, manganese, silicon and germanium – could help to usher in a new type of refrigerator that is up to 40 percent more energy-efficient than conventional models.

The ‘magnetic fridge’ envisaged by the Cambridge team would use a phenomenon called the magnetocaloric effect (MCE), whereby a magnetic field causes certain materials to get warmer (a positive MCE) or cooler (a negative MCE). Although the effect was discovered more than 120 years ago, it is only recently that magnetocaloric materials have been known with the right properties for use in everyday refrigeration. But several factors have so far prevented such applications.
For one thing, some of the materials – typically metal alloys – that show the strongest MCE contain the element gadolinium, which is very expensive. And some of the best potential alternatives contain arsenic, raising health concerns.
Sandeman and colleagues have now found a material that is neither toxic nor costly, and which generates significant cooling at around room temperature. The key to the magnetocaloric behaviour is a sudden change in the magnetic state of the compound – a so-called magnetic transition. The material is magnetic because it contains metal atoms that themselves act like tiny bar magnets. As it is warmed up from subzero temperatures, there comes a point where these atomic magnets abruptly change the way in which they are lined up.” (from treehugger.com)

Who knows, maybe when these fridges are ready for market the government will give all us one someday, instead of a rebate check that we spend on a larger TV. It would certainly make sense as it would reduce the need for more oil, more energy infrastructure, more, more, more, and get America right on track. HA!