Millions are ditching traditional air conditioning for this new electricity-free cooling method

Every summer it is the same. The temperature rises, you turn up the AC and that electricity bill is a punch to the gut. For millions of Americans, especially renters, low-income households and people in the Sun Belt, staying cool has quietly become one of the most stressful parts of the season.

However, a new technology coming from Saudi Arabia is turning the idea of cooling on its head. No compressor. No plugs. No electricity bills.

What is Nescod exactly?
Researchers at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) have created a cooling system named Nescod, short for No Electricity and Sustainable Cooling on Demand. A team led by Professor Peng Wang has developed a system that can achieve a significant cooling effect using ammonium nitrate, a compound abundant in fertilizer, without using a single watt of electricity.


The problem is, when ammonium nitrate dissolves in water it undergoes an endothermic reaction, meaning that it takes in heat from its surroundings, rather than giving it out. In lab tests, this process brought the temperature down from 77 degrees F to 38 degrees F in only 20 minutes.

The part that makes it really useful
A one-off cool down wouldn’t be anything special in itself. The really cool thing about Nescod is that it can reset itself with sunlight alone. The salt takes up heat and dissolves. The water is then evaporated by the power of the sun. The ammonium nitrate then re-crystallizes to its original form and is ready for re-use. Solar distillation also recovers evaporated water, thus minimizing waste.

It’s a closed loop that lasts as long as the sun shines.

Why this hits differently for Americans right now
US cooling costs are already hurting and will only get worse. The National Energy Assistance Directors Association (NEADA) had predicted that summer electricity bills would average $784 in 2025, a 12-year high. A recent survey found that 37 percent of low- and moderate-income households reported being unable to pay their energy bills for at least one month.

One of the reasons is air conditioning. The International Energy Agency says cooling already accounts for around 10% of all global electricity use, and that is expected to triple by 2050 as temperatures rise and more people seek relief from the heat.

Imagine a system that doesn't use any electricity. That could be a real lifeline, not only abroad but right here at home.

It’s not just about keeping your apartment cool
The potential uses are far more than just personal comfort. Some medicines and food need to be kept at 59 degrees Fahrenheit or lower in order to be safe. In the KAUST experiment, the storage container remained under that threshold for over 15 hours. This opens up real opportunities for food preservation and vaccine storage in areas where electricity is unreliable, think rural communities, disaster relief zones or areas affected by grid outages.

Not yet a replacement, but a real signal
Nescod is still in the research and development stage, so you won't see it on the shelves next summer, but what it represents is hugely important. It shows that cooling, a utility that most Americans consider non-negotiable, doesn’t have to depend on a fragile grid or an ever-expanding electricity bill. Sometimes the biggest breakthroughs start with the simplest of ingredients: salt, water, and sunshine.