Subways are incubators for all kinds of stuff but the idea of heating and cooling is a difficult one due to how much heat is generated by people, the trains, and various forms of tech to make things work. Hackaday examined talks around geothermal cooling in New York subways:
[…] In New York, though, the problem has gotten to the point that the city and state have decided to act. The plan is to study the application of a Thermal Energy Network (TEN) to the subway, which will take place as part of upgrades being made to the Brooklyn Bridge 4/5/6 and Chambers Street J/Z station complex. Notably, Brooklyn Bridge 4/5/6 regularly hits temperatures of 96 °F (35 °C) during the summer months, giving it the unenviable title of one of the hottest stations in the subway network. This makes it a prime candidate for any sort of heat mitigation effort.
If you don’t know, a TEN is a district heating and cooling system where a shared water loop exchanges heat with the ground via boreholes. Pipes would then run from the station into these holes and water would pick up the excess heat with it and recirculate it to other buildings, allowing for a way to store and handle heat for the colder months and cool via reduced heat.
Whether this actually comes to fruition is another story but with Mamdani at the helm, the chances are better than ever even if they remain slim.
Filed under: energy Hackaday heat transfer water