Environment & Energy

OKIsItJustMe

(19,938 posts) Sat May 9, 2015, 11:12 PM May 2015

Heat harvested from the sea could supply energy to Shetland in Scottish first

http://www.heraldscotland.com/business/company-news/heat-harvested-from-the-sea-could-supply-energy-to-shetland-in-scottish-first.125562537

[font face=Serif][font size=5]Heat harvested from the sea could supply energy to Shetland in Scottish first[/font]

Sunday 10 May 2015

[font size=4]The first renewable energy scheme in Scotland to draw heat from the sea could be installed in Shetland later this year.[/font]

[font size=3]The archipelago's capital of Lerwick is already host to the largest district heating scheme in Scotland which allows 1100 homes as well as 100 industrial and public buildings to be heated by means of a pipe which circulates hot water around the UK's most northerly town.

The system is currently heated by burning the islands' household and industrial rubbish. The plan is to meet growing demand for connections to the system by adding an extra source of heat through the extraction of heat from the seawater in Lerwick harbour.

The project was devised because, despite importing rubbish from neighbouring Orkney as well as from the Highlands, the sparse population of the north of Scotland means that there is insufficient waste to burn to meet demand from the town's district heating system.

…[/font][/font]

Wait!… In Scotland, they heat multiple buildings with a single, common heating system!?

How… civilized!

3 replies

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Heat harvested from the sea could supply energy to Shetland in Scottish first (Original Post) OKIsItJustMe May 2015 OP

they already use geothermal water off Iceland and hollysmom May 2015 #1

In this case, they”re simply using heat from the ocean to heat buildings OKIsItJustMe May 2015 #2

Common utility systems aren't very radical. We do it in the US. drm604 May 2015 #3

hollysmom

(5,946 posts)

1. they already use geothermal water off Iceland and

Reply to OKIsItJustMe (Original post)

Sat May 9, 2015, 11:20 PM

May 2015

I thought there was a project off Sri Lanka that used the different temperatures of water in different depths.

ocean thermal conversion or maybe it was jsut planned, heh

OKIsItJustMe

(19,938 posts)

2. In this case, they”re simply using heat from the ocean to heat buildings

Reply to hollysmom (Reply #1)

Sat May 9, 2015, 11:25 PM

May 2015

This is a good thing™.

However, the notion of cooperating to heat their buildings from a common source, rather than heating them all separately…

drm604

(16,230 posts)

3. Common utility systems aren't very radical. We do it in the US.

Reply to OKIsItJustMe (Original post)

Sun May 10, 2015, 01:19 AM

May 2015

In the US, most buildings get their electricity from a common grid. Places that have municipal water (as opposed to wells) get their water from a common system.

I have gas heat. Everyone in my town who has gas heat gets that gas delivered by underground pipes from a common source.

US cities including New York and Denver use district steam heating, where steam is distributed by underground pipes to heat buildings and for other purposes. New York has been doing it since 1882.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/District_heating#United_States

What's interesting about what Shetland is doing is the source of the heat, not how it's being distributed.

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