To meet the heating and cooling needs for city dwellers, researchers are investigating thermally driven cooling systems as an innovative option. Scientists at the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems ISE in Freiburg are developing sorbents, through metal organic frameworks (MOFs), that can hold large amounts of water vapor as an alternative to traditional cooling methods. Heating may also be benefitted by MOFs, as they can be used in thermal heat pumps. The Fraunhofer Institute for Interfacial Engineering and Biotechnology IGB is also recognizing a need to harness the heat produced by industrial factories, power stations, and biogas plants. They hope fully utilizing zeolites, porous crystalline minerals with thermal storage abilities, will be key.
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