In this new era that is the 21ST century, we have the possibility to re-adjust our tools, objectives and technologies to aim towards a greener, more efficient and sustainable future.
During the last years, District Energy has been gaining relevance over conventional technologies. Particularly speaking about District Cooling for countries where the cooling is part of the day to day because of the hot climate conditions and is being produced by conventional equipment which are not the more advanced and efficient solutions of the market.
THE NEW SUSTAINABLE COOLING
There are some factors to take into consideration to make choices regarding the sustainable air cooling systems nowadays, the below mentioned are some of the most relevant.
EFFICIENCY AND WATER CONSUMPTION AS A KEY FACTORS TO A SUSTAINABLE AIR COOLING SYSTEM
According with the International Energy Agency (IEA) 20% of the total electricity being used worldwide every year is for cooling purposes. That is why is so important to increase the efficiency in this kind of applications and save energy. Power and water consumption are two of the main targets of every District Cooling Plant, the sustainability of a system can be determined depending on the climatic conditions and the application of different condensing technologies. Some examples of efficient and ecological heat dissipation systems integrated to a District Cooling System are:
Air-coolers + Solar energy
Is well known that the Air-Cooled technology is not the most efficient, nevertheless, if the last generation of air coolers are implemented with Solar Energy as source of power it has a huge potential due to its Zero water consumption and Zero water contamination. We should consider that this combined application involves Zero fossil fuels for the electricity production too.
Seawater-cooled Condensers
This kind of condensing technology is one of the most environmentally friendly, combines the high efficiency of a liquid heat transference factor with a natural source of water (seawater of river water), then, there is high quality heat transfer and zero water consumption.
Every project is different and has its own constraints, these are examples of what can be implemented with District Cooling, being an example of what can be achieved environmentally speaking.
ECOLOGICAL FOOTPRINT OF COOLING SYSTEMS
This centralized cooling method leaves a minimum footprint in the environment, it has been proven to be sustainable in cooling applications as latest generation developments within developed countries that take these environmental advantages to be sustainable. The opportunity areas for the District Cooling are set and are clear, there is no doubt that this technology has come to stay and help. This kind of technology is placing the foundations to have among others the following benefits:
- Less ozone depletion potential and global warming substances emissions
- Reduced electricity consumption
- Less water consumption and water contamination due to chemical treatment
- Reduced noise and visual contamination
The technology implemented by District cooling can reduce the annual Carbon Dioxide emissions by almost 1 Ton of CO2 for every Refrigeration Ton (3.517 kW) delivered.
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