Category: Did You Know?

Did you know .... Europe's largest banana producer is not who you think?

One of the northernmost countries in the world is not the first place that comes to mind when you think about bananas. This tropical fruit is commonly associated with places near the equator: warm, temperate climates. However, thanks to greenhouses powered by geothermal energy, Icelanders are proving that delicious bananas can be grown anywhere.

Due to cold climate and limited sunlight, it would be impossible to grow bananas in this environment, if attempted outdoors. So, they thrive in temperature-controlled, artificially lit greenhouses that provide them with year-round favorable conditions.

Iceland is known for its natural geothermal activity. The locals have been using the heat for many years, ever since the Vikings settled in the country in the 9^th century. Originally just used for bathing and washing clothes, as technology advanced, Icelanders continued to find new ways to use the heat, including heating homes, pools, and greenhouses. In fact, one of the major greenhouse plantations is located in Hveragerði, which means “hot springs garden”.

Bananas aren’t the only warm-weather plant found growing in the land of fire and ice. Researchers have successfully attempted to produce many other plants on the island as well, including tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, coffee, cocoa, and avocados.

While these bananas are not commercially viable to grow and sell, the farmers keep producing them as a hobby. Incidentally, there may be other significant benefits to having isolated banana farms since the bananas grown there are not susceptible to Panama Disease. The disease is caused by a fungus that is impacting the yellow fruit all over the world. This isolation could help save certain types of bananas from diseases that could wipe them out.

The bananas grown in Hveragerði and other geothermal plantations around Iceland make the country the largest producer of bananas in Europe. Although the Spanish territory of the Canary Islands grows more bananas, they’re technically a part of Africa, leaving Iceland to take the top spot. Europe in general is too far north to grow many warm-weather crops, but thanks to geothermal developments, Iceland is proving that nothing is impossible.

https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/bananas-in-iceland

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/gallery/2020/dec/30/icelands-innovations-to-reach-net-zero-in-pictures

https://icelandmag.is/article/does-iceland-really-have-europes-largest-banana-plantation

https://www.thinkgeoenergy.com/lessons-to-learned-from-geothermal-energy-fuelled-greenhouses-in-iceland/

https://www.thinkgeoenergy.com/preparing-for-wgc-2020-a-short-history-of-geothermal-in-iceland/

https://askjaenergy.com/iceland-renewable-energy-sources/hydro-and-geothermal-history/

 

Did you know ... that Scottish clubbers use dance beat to generate heat?

In Glasgow, Scotland, dancers are taking “the heat beneath their feet” to a whole new level. An innovative technology is able to harness the energy produced by dancing clubbers and turn it into a way to heat the building.

The SWG3 nightclub has committed to going net-zero carbon emissions by 2025, and their plan for a one-of-a-kind heat pump system is a huge part of that. After being concerned with their emissions output, the nightclub’s management started to think of ways that they could reduce their footprint. After lots of meetings and planning, one idea became this new heat pump system, now known as Bodyheat.

Bodyheat works by taking the hot air inside the venue, generated by the movement of dancing clubbers, and pumping it underground. The heat is used to warm up a carrier fluid, which is then sent through a series of pipes into twelve 500-foot-deep boreholes and stored in a rock serving as a thermal battery. A typical cooling system would take the hot air and pump it outside into the atmosphere, but SWG3 puts that heat underground instead.

When it’s time to use it. the heat travels back into the pipes, back up above ground to the heat pumps, and used to heat the event spaces and provide hot water for the venue. SWG3 is used as an art display gallery and office space during daytime hours, which is when the heat, created by the clubbers, is used.

The nightclub invested about $670,000 into developing and installing this technology, but SWG3 projects that the savings on energy bills can offset that cost in about five years, saving them money in the long run.

David Townsend, founder of TownRock Energy, a company that helped develop Bodyheat, says that different types of music can generate different levels of energy. For example, the Rolling Stones are considered a middle-of-the-pack producer. One can get about 250 watts over the course of a song when playing the Stones. An experienced DJ could get up to 600 watts with the right song at the right time. The more excited and into the music the crowd gets, the more energy is available for harvesting.

Storing the energy produced by the movement of the body could be revolutionary. A similar system could be implemented in places like gyms, indoor sporting events, concert venues, or anywhere else where people are dancing or jumping up and down.

In terms of moving SWG3 towards their carbon-neutral goal, the Bodyheat system could reduce the nightclub’s outputs by around 60-70%. SWG3 is completely eliminating their gas boilers because of it. If the technology could be implemented in other locations around the world, it could help reduce the total amount of resources spent on heating buildings and allow the world to lower its carbon footprint.

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/12/30/arts/dance/geothermal-body-heat-glasgow-nightclub.html

https://www.odditycentral.com/news/bodyheat-a-dance-floor-that-converts-dancers-body-heat-into-energy.html

https://www.goodnewsnetwork.org/scottish-nightclub-is-powered-by-the-heat-from-dancers-moving-the-venue-to-thermal-energy/

https://www.thinkgeoenergy.com/glasgow-bodyheat-project-combines-human-body-heat-and-underground-heat-storage/

https://www.bodyheat.club/

https://www.ecowatch.com/nightclub-body-heat-energy-2655343999.html

https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-63161838

https://swg3.tv/explore/going-net-zero/

 

Did you know… there is a mystical reason to travel to Monroe, Utah – the Mystic Hot Springs!

The Mystic Hot Springs are naturally occurring geothermal pools in Central Utah, about a three hour drive south from Salt Lake City. They have been used ever since the Indigenous People, including the Ute, Piute and Shoshone tribes, discovered them long before settlers came to the area. The Native Americans made camps near hot springs, taking advantage of the warm ground to help keep them warm on cold winter nights.

Since the hot springs were located along the Old Spanish Trail, a trade route linking New Mexico to California, settlers stopped to rest and rejuvenate in the warm waters. In 1886, Thomas Cooper homesteaded the hot springs, and in 1905 opened the first bathhouse, eventually adding guest cabins and even a dance hall.

 

The resort’s modern incarnation was created by a man named Mike Ginsburg, otherwise known as “Mystic Mike”. Ginsburg was traveling back to Denver in his bus in 1995 when he came across what is now the Mystic Hot Springs. Ginsburg and his wife purchased the resort and run it to this day.

In keeping with its history, “Mystic Mike” still offers overnight stays, campsites, concerts, and other events. There is also a menagerie of animals like peacocks, an emu, a llama and six ponds with a wide variety of fish, including tropical varieties thanks to the proximity of the thermal waters. He has added a vintage school bus repurposed as an overnight cabin.

As part of a restoration project currently underway at Mystic Hot Springs, historic cabins from across the surrounding valley are acquired, moved to the site and lovingly brought back to life. Known as the Pioneer Village, it currently has 15 cabins in different stages of their restoration, and fitted with more modern accommodations than were available at the time they served as a settler’s home!

The thermal waters contain a high amount of calcium carbonate, which forms the big mounds of minerals you see around the pools. The calcium carbonate precipitates from evaporation of hot spring and hardens to form a colorful material called travertine, which is a type of limestone.

 

Unlike is most hot springs, the H₂S gas is not as prominent,  so the springs don’t have the distinctive “rotten egg” smell. Bathers can choose between individual bathtubs or larger pools to enjoy the naturally hot water, which runs between 99 and 100 degrees F, while admiring the colorful formations around them.

The Mystic Hot Springs are another example of geothermal waters being used by people across the ages. From Indigenous People to pioneers to modern day campers, they’ve all experienced everything this unique environment has to offer.

https://mystichotsprings.com/

https://recklessroaming.com/guide-mystic-hot-springs-monroe/

https://www.tophotsprings.com/mystic-hot-springs-utah/

https://tannawasilchak.com/travelguides/2020/7/14/mystic-hot-springs

https://www.bemytravelmuse.com/mystic-hot-springs-utah/

Did You Know… Renewable Energy Corridors Can Be the Future of Energy Production?

In the Escalante desert of southwestern Utah, near the town of Milford, there are four different types of renewable energy: wind, solar, biogas, and geothermal. They’re all being used to produce energy at the same time. The co-location and concentration of such diverse renewable resources in the North Milford Valley is unique, and it serves as a model of what other renewable energy corridors might be able to achieve around the country.

Beaver County is sunnier  than 88% of the counties in the United States, so it’s no wonder that solar farms have been built there to capture the power of sunshine! The solar panels cover three square miles in total and produce approximately 620,000 megawatt hours (mwh) of electricity yearly. As for wind generation, the 30-mile long North Milford Valley funnels the prevailing south to north air flow. To harvest this energy, Utah’s largest wind farm, made up of 155 wind turbines, also generates approximately 620,000 mwh. But wind and solar generation are relative newcomers compared to geothermal energy, which has been running since 1984 and providing about 250,000 mwh of electricity yearly. Geothermal resources require special geological circumstances, and these were identified in the vicinity of Roosevelt Hot Springs in the 1970s. The Blundell power plant is the sole geothermal producer in the Renewable Energy Corridor, but work is underway to test a new type of geothermal resource, Enhanced Geothermal Systems (EGS), nearby at Utah FORGE.

Methane, a potent greenhouse gas, is created from the breakdown of animal waste. In fact, 14.5% of greenhouse gas emissions globally are from livestock! By capturing the methane emissions from the decomposition of manure, instead of letting it be released directly into the atmosphere, it can instead be turned into a renewable form of natural gas. In this corridor there are 26 hog farms, making enough biogas to heat 3,000 homes. A natural gas pipeline running through the area provides a convenient way to transport this biogas out of the rural location and into more urban areas, where it can be used for heating.

What potential exists across the country to create similar renewable corridors? There are two equally crucial elements needed: the resources, and the infrastructure. For example, there are large swaths of land in the plains of North Dakota with great wind energy resources. But there are no transmission lines to run the electricity generated from the sparsely populated areas where the demand is low, to large population centers where it can be used. To harvest that wind, hundreds of miles of transmission lines would have to be built.

These renewable corridors have many benefits over single resource areas. The Renewable Energy Corridor in Beaver County supplies both electricity and natural gas, which is used to heat homes and cook food. Additionally, wind power can generate power at night, and solar can generate power when there is no wind. Whereas wind and solar are both dependent on weather conditions, geothermal can operate all day, every day. There may even be the option in the future to use geothermal as a battery for the intermittent renewables, or waste heat from the geothermal power plant could be used to promote biogas production in winter when the cold temperatures slow it down.

If there’s more solar and wind energy being generated than is being used at a given time, that excess energy could be stored as heat in the ground, to be extracted later. This balances out the supply and demand sides of the grid.

Factors to consider:

• Resource (sun, wind, geothermal)
• Space (physical space, distance from people (fumes, odor, noise, etc.))
• Site access (set-up and maintenance)
• Grid/pipeline connection
• Environment (won’t impact groundwater, endangered species, cause erosion, etc.)

General

https://www.sltrib.com/news/2021/11/02/utahs-renewable-energy/

Geothermal

https://geology.utah.gov/map-pub/survey-notes/ugs-is-major-partner-in-large-geothermal-project-near-milford-utah/

Solar

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2015/07/13/map-where-americas-sunniest-and-least-sunny-places-are/

https://www.power-technology.com/marketdata/escalante-solar-i-pv-park-us/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Escalante_Solar_Project

https://www.arcgis.com/apps/mapviewer/index.html?layers=831bc77130f14125a5b9ebefed72a3f1

Biogas

https://alignrng.com/

https://www.nationalgrid.com/stories/energy-explained/what-is-biogas

https://www.arcgis.com/apps/mapviewer/index.html?layers=9833ca6c8103490b8ad145a30f0522ee

Wind

https://www.renewablesfirst.co.uk/windpower/windpower-learning-centre/what-makes-a-good-wind-power-site/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milford_Wind

https://www.toddklassy.com/montana-blog/mean-average-wind-speed-across-the-united-states

https://windexchange.energy.gov/maps-data/325

A MW hour is the actual electricity generated. Same as the kw hour on your electricity bill. The total capacity of the turbine, rated in MW, assumes 100% performance. The turbine doesn’t spin all the time.