Ice Pond Refinement

The ice pond is not a new idea. It's based on the fact that ice, harvested during the winter and stored cheaply, takes a surprisingly long time to melt, and so can be profitably sold in summer. This used to be big business in the 1800's, with New England ice shipped as far away as Calcutta. (First link).

More recently it's been proposed as a cheaper way to air- condition large buildings: set up a ski-resort-type snowmaking machine in winter, to make a big pile of snow, cover it in cheap insulation, and, in summer, trickle water through it, yielding a supply of chilled water for air conditioning. This has been piloted successfully (see links 2 & 3).

Around here, shopping malls & such have really large parking lots. In winter, they're kept clear of snow by plowing -- often with bulldozers, backhoes & the like. Huge piles of snow sit at the edges of these lots long into spring, protected by their low surface-to- volume ratio.

I propose that pits be dug at these lots, and the snow plowed into these pits. A diversion from the chilled-water circuit of the mall's air conditioning plant should be run to a heat exchanger in the pit (a skein of PVC pipe might work, but if not, more sophisticated systems are available (see link 4)). Fencing would be needed, and also, I think, a sump or bilge with connection to the storm drains. Neither capacity nor reliability need be all that high: the system's only intended to supplement conventional air conditioning, reducing electricity expenditures.

The system is perhaps best suited to airports. Wide, straight runways are easier to plow; specialized snow-moving equipment is already in use, on an aggressive schedule; there's no sand or salt added to the snow; there's plenty of surrounding land for ice ponds; there's a large centralized air-conditioning plant nearby; the plant is at ground level. Also, airports might want a conspicuously "green" project for PR purposes to offset carbon footprint embarrassment.