When Snowy Tranquility Supports Cooling February 2009

When Snowy Tranquility Supports Cooling February 2009

Natural cooling systems utilizing snow and ice are attracting attention, and their introduction is progressing, especially in cold regions such as Hokkaido and Niigata Prefecture. In Hokkaido in particular, according to a report by the Bureau of Economy, Trade and Industry, the number of installations has continued at a pace of three to four per year since FY 2003, more than tripling the number of installations 10 years ago.

Initially, the majority of installations were for public facilities and storage of agricultural products, but private companies have begun to adopt them for cooling purposes, such as Toyota Motor Hokkaido (Tomakomai City) in 2006 and Denso Electronics (Chitose City) in 2009. These companies store snow in their factory facilities and use it for cooling in the summer and for cooling IT equipment.

Of particular note is the White Data Center concept by the Hokkaido Green Energy DC Study Group, which includes NTT Communications, Fujitsu, Ricoh, and Muroran Institute of Technology. The goal is to reduce air conditioning power consumption by up to 90% through a cooling system that combines outside air cooling, free cooling, and snow thermal energy.

A concrete example of private sector implementation is the snow-cooled air-conditioning facility built at New Chitose Airport (Chitose City, Hokkaido) on the occasion of the G8 Hokkaido Toyako Summit. Two tons of plowed snow is stored in containers, and melted water is used to cool the terminal building during the summer. According to estimates, three out of five air conditioners can be operated with this snow-cooled heat, which is expected to reduce power consumption for air conditioning by approximately 70-90%.

In addition, Ojiya City, Niigata Prefecture, has formulated "Guidelines for Building Snow-Cooled Thermal Energy Houses (tentative title)" based on snow-cooling experiments conducted on private residences. This is expected to promote the introduction of this technology to ordinary homes and open up business opportunities for local construction companies and newcomers to the market.

The expansion of the use of snow and ice heat is highly regarded as part of global warming countermeasures, and is also being considered as a target energy source for the Green Heat Certificate Program to be introduced by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) in fiscal 2009. Further expansion of support measures for the introduction of snow and ice heat is expected to lead to its further spread in the future.

In response to the increasing demand for electricity caused by global warming, efforts to utilize snow and ice as a natural energy source will continue to attract attention as a sustainable cooling technology that takes advantage of local climatic characteristics.

Related Information

Ministry of the Environment "Outline of Renewable Energy Heat Utilization Technology
Introduction of snow cooling system by TDK
J-STAGE "Report on Snow and Ice Refrigeration Heat Utilization in Hokkaido
Case study of snow/ice heat supply system at New Chitose Airport
The National Institute of Agro-Environmental Sciences "Significance and Challenges of Snow, Ice and Refrigeration for Agricultural Product Storage
Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism "Planning Guidelines for Snow Cooling Systems for Government Facilities
ENY "Renewable Energy Explanatory Material
Hakuba Village New Energy Introduction Project Document
Niseko Town "Basic Policy for the Introduction of New Energy
Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism "Document on Promotion of Utilization of Snow Cooling Energy".