EcoFactor: Snow collected during winter months to chill the liquid in the airport’s cooling system.
It seems that Japanese passengers will get a taste of winters in summers as the country’s New Chitose Airport in Hokkaida will keep things nice and cool in the summer using the snow collected during the winter. Airport authorities hope that this new technique will provide 30 percent of its cooling needs, which would reduce CO2 emissions by 2100 tons.
For this process to work, Japanese officials collected snow last winter at the airport and confirmed that they could retain about 45 percent of the collection till September using special heat-insulating materials. This collection can be used to cool the liquid in the airport’s cooling system, which reduces the amount of electricity used for the same process.
The Dark Side:
Undoubtedly, the Japanese have figured out a way to reduce the environmental impact of their airports, but since the technique makes use of snow collected during the winter, it cannot be used in places which don’t receive snowfall at all.
Via: CleanTechnica
