Podcast episode looks at efficient ways to stay cool around the world

December 3, 2025

A large share of our global energy use takes place in extreme places to cool in the summer months and heat in the winter, powering the invisible comfort systems that keep us alive in the places we choose to live.

In the most recent episode of Closing the Gap, ACEP Chief Scientist Gwen Holdmann explores the concept of passive cooling, bringing you three stories of designs that take advantage of natural temperature differences instead of using energy just to make something cold.

Holdmann starts in South Africa by looking at a cooling system designed by insects, then explores an innovative system in the Persian Gulf nation of Qatar that puts a modern twist on an ancient cooling strategy. She ends in the underground sewers of Paris, a city that is literally using the planet itself as both a heat sink and a heat source.

The podcast “Closing the Gap with Gwen Holdmann” brings you stories from the leading edge of the global energy transition twice a month on Apple, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. It is also available as a broadcast program for public radio stations through PRX. The show is produced and engineered by Tony Williams and written and edited by Jennifer Pemberton.

Contact Pemberton at jcpemberton@alaska.edu with any questions.