The Reengineer Monitor #3

Waste heat, drought, alternative shipping fuels - and more!

Hydroelectic power has huge potential - but might be at risk from drought in some places. Photo by Eva Bronzini.

Heating and cooling

The vast majority of electricity consumed by computer devices is wasted as heat – but the Solving for Climate podcast has a new episode all about how we could harvest and use that heat. (And, in case you missed it, here’s a link to last week’s story about energy efficienct programming!)

A fascinating new study from researchers at the University of Nottingham suggests that gas pipelines running to people’s homes could be repurposed as part of a district-wide geothermal heat pump system. The pipes would deliver ground-warmed water to heat pumps that use that water to form ice-slurry. The process of forming the ice releases heat, which can then be directed into a person’s home.

Here’s a patriotic plea for heat pumps. The Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit (ECIU), a non-profit, has estimated that gas heating systems in the UK will be increasingly dependent on foreign imports during the next five years. The same won’t be true of heat pumps that consume electricity – so long as the renewables rollout continues as expected.

Buildings and infrastructure

The UK Green Building Council has a new report full of ideas about how to make built infrastructure more climate resilient – including through protecting communities with more trees, parks and ponds.