Heat-driven snow production

Abstract

Global warming is causing increased temperatures and reduced snow cover, which threatens the possibility to exercise winter sports activities near populated areas in the future. Temperature Independent Snow (TIS) production can contribute to increase the snow reliability for winter sport. However, this method is very energy intensive and to reduce operational costs the use of heat instead of electricity as energy source is a potential solution. Absorption appears to be most promising among the possible heat driven refrigeration technologies. Heat supply temperatures can be as low as 85-90°C, which opens the possibility for using district heating. Calculations showed that a thermally driven refrigeration system for TIS production is more than twice as energy intensive compared to using electricity and will depend on low energy costs to be competitive. The review of potential heat sources shows that there is a potential for utilization of district heating and industrial waste heat. District heating is the most prevalent and about 40 % of the identified winter sport facilities are in municipalities where this is offered. However, low temperatures and lack of available heat are potential challenges. Industrial waste heat exists in large quantities at sufficient temperature levels but is less co-located with the winter sports facilities. Furthermore, there are important factors related to cost and technology, which can limit the potential for utilization.