What could be the world’s largest prize – a cool $30 million – has
been won by a refrigerator designed by Whirlpool, a company based in
Michigan. In July last year, in an attempt to reduce demand for
elec-tricity, a group of power companies offered the prize to the first
company to build a prototype fridge that would use at least 25 per cent less
electricity than current standards demand while using no ozone-depleting
CFCs.
Whirlpool is not saying much about the design of its novel fridge, but its
features include better insulation and a com-puter that controls defrosting.
The company will collect the prize piecemeal – about $10 for each
fridge sold once the design reaches the market next year.
