Passive daytime radiative cooling (PDRC) can lower temperatures with zero energy consumption or pollution by radiating heat into outer space. Widespread application has been proposed as a solution to global warming.[1]
PDRC surfaces are designed to be high in solar reflectance (to minimize heat gain) and strong in longwave infrared (LWIR) thermal radiationheat transfer through the atmosphere's infrared window (8–13 μm) to cool temperatures even during the daytime.[14][15][16] It is also referred to as passive radiative cooling, daytime passive radiative cooling, radiative sky cooling, photonic radiative cooling, and terrestrial radiative cooling.[15][16][12][17] PDRC differs from solar radiation management because it increases radiative heat emission rather than merely reflecting the absorption of solar radiation.[18]
Some estimates propose that if 1–2% of the Earth's surface area were dedicated to PDRC that warming would cease and temperature increases would be rebalanced to survivable levels.[19][16] Regional variations provide different cooling potentials with desert and temperate climates benefiting more from application than tropical climates, attributed to the effects of humidity and cloud cover on reducing the effectiveness of PDRCs.[20][21][22] Low-cost scalable PDRC materials feasible for mass production have been developed, such as coatings, thin films, metafabrics, aerogels, and biodegradable surfaces.
PDRCs can be included in self-adaptive systems, 'switching' from passive cooling to heating to mitigate any potential "overcooling" effects in urban environments.[3][23] They have also been developed in colors other than white, although there is generally a tradeoff in cooling potential, since darker color surfaces are less reflective.[24][25] Research, development, and interest in PDRCs has grown rapidly since the 2010s, which has been attributed to a scientific breakthrough in the use of photonic metamaterials to achieve daytime cooling in 2014,[26][12][27] along with growing concerns over energy use and global warming.[28][29]
^Munday, Jeremy (2019). "Tackling Climate Change through Radiative Cooling". Joule. 3 (9): 2057–2060. doi:10.1016/j.joule.2019.07.010. S2CID201590290. By covering the Earth with a small fraction of thermally emitting materials, the heat flow away from the Earth can be increased, and the net radiative flux can be reduced to zero (or even made negative), thus stabilizing (or cooling) the Earth.
^Cite error: The named reference :34 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^"What is 3M Passive Radiative Cooling?". 3M. Archived from the original on 22 September 2021. Retrieved 27 September 2022. Passive Radiative Cooling is a natural phenomenon that only occurs at night in nature because all nature materials absorb more solar energy during the day than they are able to radiate to the sky.
^ abWang, Tong; Wu, Yi; Shi, Lan; Hu, Xinhua; Chen, Min; Wu, Limin (2021). "A structural polymer for highly efficient all-day passive radiative cooling". Nature Communications. 12 (365): 365. doi:10.1038/s41467-020-20646-7. PMC7809060. PMID33446648. Accordingly, designing and fabricating efficient PDRC with sufficiently high solar reflectance (𝜌¯solar) (λ ~ 0.3–2.5 μm) to minimize solar heat gain and simultaneously strong LWIR thermal emittance (ε¯LWIR) to maximize radiative heat loss is highly desirable. When the incoming radiative heat from the Sun is balanced by the outgoing radiative heat emission, the temperature of the Earth can reach its steady state.
^ abcZevenhovena, Ron; Fält, Martin (June 2018). "Radiative cooling through the atmospheric window: A third, less intrusive geoengineering approach". Energy. 152: 27. Bibcode:2018Ene...152...27Z. doi:10.1016/j.energy.2018.03.084. S2CID116318678 – via Elsevier Science Direct. An alternative, third geoengineering approach would be enhanced cooling by thermal radiation from the Earth's surface into space." [...] "With 100 W/m2 as a demonstrated passive cooling effect, a surface coverage of 0.3% would then be needed, or 1% of Earth's land mass surface. If half of it would be installed in urban, built areas which cover roughly 3% of the Earth's land mass, a 17% coverage would be needed there, with the remainder being installed in rural areas.
^Cite error: The named reference :21 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^Cite error: The named reference Munday was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^Miranda, Nicole D.; Renaldi, Renaldi; Khosla, Radhika; McCulloch, Malcolm D. (October 2021). "Bibliometric analysis and landscape of actors in passive cooling research". Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews. 149: 111406. doi:10.1016/j.rser.2021.111406 – via Elsevier Science Direct. In the last three years, however, publications on radiative cooling and solar control have been the most numerous and hence are promising technologies in the field.
^Wang, Tong; Wu, Yi; Shi, Lan; Hu, Xinhua; Chen, Min; Wu, Limin (2021). "A structural polymer for highly efficient all-day passive radiative cooling". Nature Communications. 12 (365): 365. doi:10.1038/s41467-020-20646-7. PMC7809060. PMID33446648. Accordingly, designing and fabricating efficient PDRC with sufficiently high solar reflectance (𝜌¯solar) (λ ~ 0.3–2.5 μm) to minimize solar heat gain and simultaneously strong LWIR thermal emittance (ε¯LWIR) to maximize radiative heat loss is highly desirable. When the incoming radiative heat from the Sun is balanced by the outgoing radiative heat emission, the temperature of the Earth can reach its steady state.
^Munday, Jeremy (2019). "Tackling Climate Change through Radiative Cooling". Joule. 3 (9): 2057–2060. doi:10.1016/j.joule.2019.07.010. S2CID201590290. By covering the Earth with a small fraction of thermally emitting materials, the heat flow away from the Earth can be increased, and the net radiative flux can be reduced to zero (or even made negative), thus stabilizing (or cooling) the Earth.