Montana Technologies has announced that it will be launching its new product, AirJoule®, at COP28 in December. The announcement was made at the 2023 Planitiers World Gathering – a 3-day conference held in Aveiro, Portugal, which aims to help changemakers connect and highlight long-term sustainable solutions amid the climate crisis.

Montana Technologies, believes that the launch of AirJoule® will mark a key breakthrough in enabling cities to significantly lower their energy consumption whilst also providing a new means to access clean water, thanks to the solution’s water harvesting capabilities. Established in 2014, Montana Technologies is an envirotech company that develops and deploys atmospheric energy and water harvesting systems worldwide as a solution to climate change and water scarcity. 

An air conditioning solution, AirJoule® enables electricity consumption to be reduced by 75 percent, meaning users will drastically improve their energy efficiency and lower their footprint.

As a result of the energy cost savings, an AirJoule® dehumidifier can have a payback period of 18 months. Simultaneously, the product is able to harvest water at 60-90 watt hours per liter and provides clean drinking water at 0.5 to 2 cents per liter. As such, the product could offer a crucial solution in developing countries where water scarcity is a significant issue. Consequently, the launch of the product has been hotly anticipated – AirJoule® currently has patents and patent applications in 44 countries. 

According to Statista, air conditioning is the biggest factor in growing electricity demand. As temperatures continue to rise and populations increase, energy demand due to air conditioning globally is expected to almost triple by 2050. Furthermore, UNICEF has reported that globally, women and girls spend 200 million hours collecting water every day, whilst World Vision has stated that 771 million people lack access to clean water.

AirJoule® is designed to simultaneously tackle both of these by optimizing the water and energy that already exists within the air. This will help cities to lower their overall energy demand significantly which would have a highly positive impact on the environment and also lower costs. At the same time, if applied in the developing world, it would dramatically improve access to water and provide new opportunities for those who have traditionally traveled great distances to obtain water. 

Speaking at the Planetiers World Gathering, Paul Peterson, Impact Strategist at Montana Technologies said: “We are very excited to launch AirJoule® at COP28. The atmosphere around us is a well of energy and water, but it is only with the right technology that these resources can be accessed. We now have that technology, and believe that this is a major breakthrough, both from a sustainability perspective and also a water scarcity perspective. The commencement of COP28 in December will encourage the world to look with renewed focus on how the environment can be improved – it is the perfect time to launch the solution.”