MANY MINDEDGerman-Japanese lab prototype achieves electricity-free datacenter cooling
German-Japanese researchers from Karlsruhe Institute of Technology and University of Tsukuba developed a prototype using nickel-titanium foils that generates cooling without electricity. Published in Nature Energy on August 28, 2026, the technology employs elastocaloric effects—mechanical phase transitions that absorb heat from computer processors. Lab tests showed the system achieved a 12.9 K temperature span at the refrigerant film level and 4.0 K at the device level under 86°C heating. It maintained 2.2 K stability at the device level under 130°C external heat. Crucially, the system uses waste heat from cooled objects as its energy source, potentially cutting datacenter emissions. Datacenters currently account for over 40% of global energy-related CO2 emissions from heating and cooling (IRENA data). However, the prototype operates at a single-pair film configuration and requires scaling beyond laboratory conditions for real-world deployment. No commercial datacenter implementation exists yet.
This work addresses a critical friction point: datacenter energy use. If scaled, it could reduce the carbon footprint of AI computing while lowering cooling costs. But current performance is limited to lab conditions, and researchers emphasize practical deployment remains unproven. The next phase must validate whether the technology can handle real-world heat loads and thermal cycling without energy input. The 40% emissions figure applies specifically to heating and cooling systems, not all energy use.
Source: The Register