From Australian Broadcasting via Transport Newsletter 180:
The warmth generated by human bodies in the Parisian metro will help heat a public housing project in the city centre, according to the French capital’s largest owner of social housing. The building, located in the famous rue Beaubourg close to the Pompidou museum, is being renovated in an environmentally friendly way.
‘Luckily, the building is connected to the metro through a staircase’, said Francois Wachnick from Paris Habitat. The calories emitted by passengers, around 100 watts per person, combined with the heat from trains moving along tracks and the underground location of the metro mean that corridor temperatures are 14-20 degrees Celsius all year around.
The project, which is based on geothermal technology, aims to draw heat from subterranean passages and move it to heat exchangers before supplying heating pipes. The system will complement district heating. The project should slash carbon dioxide emissions by a third compared to using a boiler room connected to district heating …
Very interesting….now I’m sure we’ll see this in Vancouver before too long…after all, we are going to be the greenest………
Here’s hoping!