As anyone with AC knows, running the AC significantly adds to your energy use. It's also a significant part of national energy use: about 5%. Engineers and scientists at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) are hoping to reduce that number, and they just made a breakthrough.

NREL has developed a new AC technology called DEVap, which uses liquid dessicants to remove humidity from air that evaporative cooling has already cooled down. Most ACs today use a process that actually adds humidity to the cooled air; DEVap is 50-90% more efficient and will work better in humid climates. (Technical details here.)

And since DEVap doesn't use refrigerants, it eliminates chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) and hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs), both of which are found in standard air conditioners and which (ironically enough) contribute to global warming.

When can you look for a DEVap window unit? Not for awhile. The first recipients of this tech will probably be industry. (via Treehugger.)