Japanese Recycle Snow Into Energy?
It’s a perfect day to write about snow here in Upstate NY. We’ve been bombarded with lake effect snow for the past few days, forced to bundle up, brush the snow off of our cars every time we get in them, and drive 15 mph on all major expressways.
Some people love the snow, some hate it, and most of us just learn to deal with it…but the Japanese recycle it. Recycle snow you say? Most people think that recycling snow means, building a snowman, throwing snowballs, keeping food cold, or eating homemade snow cones (steer clear of the yellow ones). But the Japanese have found a new way to recycle snow to help power an airports cooling system.
Japan gets an average of 20-30 feet of extra snow each year, so the Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism Ministry decided to collect snow last year at the New Chitose Airport. The snow was stored and covered with heat-insulating materials, so that it could then be used in the summer months to chill the liquid used in the airport’s cooling system. Doing this decreased the amount of energy needed to cool the airport terminals by 30%, and cut some 2,100 tons of carbon dioxide emissions annually.
I’m sure we could use the snow here in New York to keep a lot of things cool over the muggy summer months…and I would happily have the “DSR” (Department of Snow Recycling) come to my house and take the snow out of my driveway for free!
Can you think of any interesting ways to recycle snow? Hit us up on twitter or facebook! Maybe we’ll feature a video of the best idea!