What is the name of your organization?
Gyre Energy
What is the name of your solution?
Gyre AI
Provide a one-line summary or tagline for your solution.
Cutting cooling costs and emissions with AI-enhanced thermal energy storage.
In what city, town, or region is your solution team headquartered?
Oxford, UK
In what country is your solution team headquartered?
United Kingdom
What type of organization is your solution team?
For-profit, including B-Corp or similar models
Film your elevator pitch.
What specific problem are you solving?
Cooling our spaces is a global climate threat. It is energy intensive, expensive and accelerating.
Cooling currently accounts for 10% of global energy use - up to 40% of energy use in data centers and 90% of energy use in cold storage. The IEA predicts demand for space cooling is projected to triple by 2050 due to the AI Boom, rapid growth in cold storage and the warming climate. This is currently having a significant impact on emissions, both at point of energy use, and from potential refrigerant leakage.
Current methods are predominantly optimised only for temperature, assets are run at 100% for 24 hours a day based on insufficient data points, utilising limited thermal energy storage and automation. Operators are under pressure - over 50% of cold storage facilities in the UK are more than 20 years old and energy prices have roughly doubled in the last 4 years.
Cold Storage is not only an energy problem, it is critical infrastructure, supporting the movement of food and pharmaceuticals across the globe. There are issues with reliability for last mile delivery, food quality pressures and a lack of affordable off-grid refrigeration methods leading to significant product spoilage.
What is your solution?
Gyre Energy is a platform cooling technology combining physics-based AI automation with thermal energy storage (TES) to dynamically optimise cooling loads, maximise efficiency and cut cooling costs and emissions by up to 40%.
Our core innovation is the AI software which integrates with existing HVAC & Refrigeration (HVAC&R) assets and IoT data. It analyses internal usage patterns, external data like weather and real-time energy tariffs, and uses optimisation models to predict optimal cooling profiles. The AI then automates cooling controls, directing systems to cool when energy is cheapest and cleanest, and leverages integrated TES to store and release cooling energy effectively.
Thermal Energy Storage is the other key piece of our solution. It is a low cost, chemically precise 'ice' that can be set to maintain an exact temperature for a long period of time. It ‘charges’ when the HVAC& R is switched on, absorbing cold energy, and ‘discharges’ when switched off, maintaining an environment at a set temperature. It can be easily installed with no electrical retrofit, and acts as a flexibility mechanism to reduce the need to run energy intensive cooling infrastructure.
Who does your solution serve, and in what ways will the solution impact their lives?
Gyre Energy serves cooling infrastructure operators globally. We believe we can have the most significant impact by optimising their energy consumption but also reinforcing the reliability of their critical infrastructure assets. Our initial focus is on cold storage facilities and cold chain logistics due to scale and impact we can make i.e. up to 90% of their operational spend is on energy for cooling. Operators in this industry are often underserved due to aging infrastructure and a lack of innovation on automation and energy optimisation. Our solution will directly impact their bottom line in cost savings, up to 40%, reduce emissions from energy use and refrigerant leakage, as well as maintain up-time and availability to serve their customers more efficiently. Our solution is also versatile in terms of deployment from highly advanced cooling spaces right through to off-grid and last mile delivery distribution assets. It can also be complemented with other low carbon technologies such as onsite solar, to further optimise behind the meter usage and delivery of climate and emission reduction outcomes.
