Aerogel Superinsulation Blowtorch Demo: Hershey’s Kiss
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5sw1tNeJ0Rw
Originally invented in 1931, Aerogel was both brittle and expensive. Plus it was very hydrophilic, attracting water.
However, a decade or two ago, somebody came up with a way to make thin, flexible sheets of aerogel at much less cost.
It insulates too well to be integrated into clothing. If you lined a sleeping bag with it, you could sleep outside in a winter blizzard in the Arctic, and feel like you were in a sauna.
However, inside a panel, it could be used to line a freezer or refrigerator, or an oven, and they would use just a fraction of the energy they currently use with conventional insulation.
NASA has first call on aerogel insulation for use in satellites and spaceships. Likewise Arctic and Antarctic stations, and places where it gets extremely hot could benefit from it.
In full industrial-commercial production, it could slash US energy use by a huge amount.
I ran into aerogel recently while looking for thin insulation for a new shed we had put in. It’s super expensive.