The concept behind mechanical refrigeration has been around for centuries, but it's a pretty big leap to say the tech hasn't changed. Energy-hungry is also a weird way to describe systems that can consume as little as 30-25% of the amount of energy they transfer. If heat pumps are energy-hungry, then magnetocaloric, consuming 20-17%, isn't really much less so.
30% improvement is great of course, but I guess I just don't like the framing of the introduction here.