raw · articles · ingested 2026-07-19
The paints, coatings, and chemicals making the world a cooler place
Author: Becky Ferreira, MIT Technology Review, December 26, 2025.
The news hook
Frames 2025 heat waves that strained grids in North America, Europe, and the Middle East as the driver of current interest in radiative cooling as an AC alternative.
The data
Commercial radiative-cooling coatings now reflect 94%+ of sunlight (97%+ in humid tropics); pilot projects cut AC energy use 15–20% in some residential buildings.
The competitive field
Names active companies: SkyCool Systems, Planck Energies, Spacecool, i2Cool. Quotes researchers Qiaoqiang Gan (KAUST) and Aaswath Raman (UCLA/SkyCool) framing radiative cooling as a “universal,” long-exploited phenomenon.
Why it matters for this archive
The clearest current major-outlet “heat wave → no-AC cooling tech” narrative a Double Play demonstration project could piggyback press pitches on, and it names the current commercial competitive field the archive’s technology would be positioned against. See Promoting passive thermal technology.