Let the river do the heating
Spring on the Charles River Esplanade
— Photo by Ingfbruno
#heat pump #Charles River
Adapted from Robert Whitcomb’s “Digital Diary, in GoLocal24.com
Cleaner-energy progress continues in unexpected ways. I recently learned this:
Vicinity Energy, based in Boston, is partnering with Germany’s MAN Energy Solutions to collaborate in developing heat-pump systems for steam generation using water from the Charles River. Vicinity says it will install such an industrial-scale complex at its Kendall Station facility (in Cambridge) by 2026.
A heat pump extracts heat from a source, such as the air, geothermal energy in the ground or nearby sources of water or waste heat from a factory. It then amplifies and transfers the heat to where it is needed.
The giant heat-pump complex will generate steam with which to heat many large buildings in Cambridge and Boston, which could save owners and renters a lot of money.
Vicinity says that this will be the largest such facility in the U.S. and “will be powered by renewable electricity to safely and efficiently harvest energy from the Charles River, returning it at a lower temperature.’’ The idea is to renewably harvest thermal energy from rivers and oceans, which are warming because of climate change, thus helping decarbonize localities, especially cities.
How about something like this in Rhode Island? Lots of water available.
Hit these links:
Water-source heat-exchanger being installed in England