• About
    • Which Energy Mix is this?
  • Climate News Network Archive
  • Contact
Celebrating our 1,000th edition. The climate news you need
No Result
View All Result
The Energy Mix
  • Canada
  • UK & Europe
  • Fossil Fuels
  • Ending Emissions
  • Community Climate Finance
  • Clean Electricity Grid
  • Cities & Communities
SUBSCRIBE
DONATE
  • Canada
  • UK & Europe
  • Fossil Fuels
  • Ending Emissions
  • Community Climate Finance
  • Clean Electricity Grid
  • Cities & Communities
SUBSCRIBE
DONATE
No Result
View All Result
The Energy Mix
No Result
View All Result
  FEATURED
Ex-Fossil Workers Convert Old Oilfields to Solar Farms After ‘Rapid Upskilling’ in Alberta June 29, 2022
London Becomes Biggest City to Sign Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty June 29, 2022
G7 Miss ‘Golden Opportunity’, Walk Back Pledge to Cut International Fossil Finance June 29, 2022
Soaring Fertilizer Prices Could Deliver ‘Silver Lining’ For Emissions, But Farmers Struggle to Limit Use June 26, 2022
BREAKING: UN Nature Summit, the ‘Paris Conference for Biodiversity’, Moves to Montreal in December June 19, 2022
Next
Prev
Home Climate News Network

Norway saves skiing with climate-friendly snow

February 11, 2017
Reading time: 4 minutes
Primary Author: Paul Brown

Detail from a painting by Norwegian artist Knud Larsen Bergslien of skiers escaping from Lillehammer in 1206 with two-year-old Håkon Håkonsson

Detail from a painting by Norwegian artist Knud Larsen Bergslien of skiers escaping from Lillehammer in 1206 with two-year-old Håkon Håkonsson

 

The production of artificial snow that heats buildings is Norway’s response to the rising temperatures that threaten the country’s favourite sport.

LONDON, 11 February, 2017 – Ski resorts all over the world are increasingly turning to expensive snow-making machines as the climate warms. This method uses so much fuel that it contributes to global warming. And it only works if the air temperature is below freezing, therefore many low-lying resorts are being abandoned.

Norway, where skiing is the country’s favourite sport and a useful form of winter transport, is hoping to come to the rescue with a new way of producing snow that heats buildings at the same time.

The work is being supported with a 2.3 million krone ($300,000) grant from the Norwegian Ministry of Culture. It argues that skiing is engrained in the country’s culture – Norwegians say they are “born with skis on their feet” – so they cannot afford to lose the sport.

Fake snow

Conventional snow-making involves spraying water into cold air and letting physics do the rest. But even the recent advances, where water is “seeded” with a protein from a bacterium that allows snow to be made at temperatures around freezing, are not sufficient to keep up with the warming climate. Once the temperatures are above freezing the method does not work.

The Norwegians believe they can get round this problem by using heat pumps. Heat taken out of air can be used to warm buildings in a ski resort, and the cold air that is produced can be used outside to make artificial snow.

Researchers at SINTEF, Scandinavia’s largest independent research institute, and the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) believe that an adaptation of the technology used in domestic fridges and freezers will solve the problem.

Petter Nekså, an energy research scientist at SINTEF, says: “At higher temperatures, you need a refrigeration plant to make snow. The advantage is that this process is independent of air temperatures. One of the main aims of the project will be to find out how we can produce snow regardless of the outdoor temperature, and to develop energy-efficient ways of doing it.”

“Just like we have artificial football pitches,
we could also create future snow parks”

What can make the process energy-efficient is heating a building with the heat generated by the pump as it cools water to be made into snow, Nekså says.

“In this way, we can heat indoor facilities while also making artificial snow for ski slopes outside – virtually cost-free,” he claims.

The approach involves adapting current heat-pump technology, says Jacob Stang, one of Nekså’s colleagues at SINTEF. “A traditional snow-production facility that makes snow at zero degrees outdoors has no ‘hot side’,” Stang says. “That means we need a heat pump that has the properties of a refrigeration plant. We have to adapt components, such as an evaporator and condenser, to get them to work together.”

The project will be conducted in collaboration with the city of Trondheim, where SINTEF and NTNU are based, and the Norwegian Ski Federation (NSF).

The researchers are also hoping to develop better ways of storing snow, which is an approach many ski resorts use as a precaution against warmer temperatures. Currently, sawdust is used to store artificial snow that can be spread on slopes and trails when the weather doesn’t deliver. While this is a proven approach, over time the sawdust loses its insulating properties and has to be replaced.

“Norway has a long tradition and expertise in this field,” says Trygve M Eikevik, a professor in NTNU’s Department of Energy and Process Engineering. “The fishery sector produces around 300,000 tonnes of ice each year for fish export. This is enough to cover an 8-metre-wide, 150-kilometre-long ski trail with a layer of ice that is half a metre thick. It is, therefore, more than possible to manufacture snow for skiing.”

Norwegian pastime

The NSF hopes the project will increase Norway’s chances of hosting skiing world championships in the future, but officials are most concerned about maintaining the sport as a pastime in Norway.

“The challenges posed by climate change represent perhaps the greatest threat to ski sports. This is why we’re very pleased that this project is taking off,” says Marit Gjerland, a ski run consultant for the NSF. “Good results from the project will mean a lot for the future of ski sports.”

She says the technology could also expand the popularity of skiing, by making snow available in places where it didn’t naturally occur. “Just like we have artificial football pitches, we could also create future snow parks,” she says.

One of the aims of the project is to establish a snow technology research centre based in Trondheim, where both Norwegian and international projects could be carried out. – Climate News Network



in Climate News Network

The latest climate news and analysis, direct to your inbox

Subscribe

Related Posts

stux / Pixabay
Air & Marine

Big Seven European Airlines Lag on Reducing Sky-High Emissions: Report

June 13, 2022
75
Ars Electronica/flickr
Solar

Unique ‘Smartflower’ Microgrid to Power Saskatchewan High School

June 13, 2022
152
http://midwestenergynews.com/2013/10/24/as-pipeline-concerns-mount-a-renewed-focus-on-the-great-lakes-enbridge-mackinac-line-5/
Pipelines / Rail Transport

Line 5 Closure Brings Negligible Rise in Gas Prices, Enbridge Consultant Finds

June 10, 2022
205

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

I agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy.

Trending Stories

Keith Hirsche

Ex-Fossil Workers Convert Old Oilfields to Solar Farms After ‘Rapid Upskilling’ in Alberta

June 29, 2022
304
François GOGLINS/wikimedia commons

Corrosion Problem Shutters Half of France’s Nuclear Reactors

June 29, 2022
131
David/flickr

U.S. Supreme Court Expected to Gut Emission Controls as Climate Scientists Petition for Plan B

June 26, 2022
1.2k
Number 10/flickr

G7 Miss ‘Golden Opportunity’, Walk Back Pledge to Cut International Fossil Finance

June 29, 2022
116
London Eye UK England

London Becomes Biggest City to Sign Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty

June 29, 2022
103
Danielle Scott/flickr

Advocate Urges Ottawa to Intervene Before Ontario Builds Highway 413

June 29, 2022
87

Recent Posts

AJEL / Pixabay

Windfall Tax on Food, Fossil, Pharma Giants Would Raise $490B to Solve ‘Catastrophic’ Food Crisis: Oxfam

June 29, 2022
48
futureatlas.com/flickr

Ottawa Demands Deeper Fuel Emissions Cuts, Offers Fossils a Double-Dip on Tax Breaks

June 29, 2022
72
Province of B.C./flickr

Comox Joins Municipalities Seeking Ban on New Gas Stations

June 29, 2022
58
/Piqsels

Refocus Agriculture Spending to Cut Emissions, Boost Productivity, OECD Urges Governments

June 29, 2022
25
Jimmy Emerson, DVM/flickr

Public Vigilance Key to Protecting Greenbelts for Climate Resilience, Report Finds

June 29, 2022
27
Miguel V/Wikimedia Commons

Forests Fall Short of Full Carbon Storage Potential, Study Finds

June 29, 2022
46
Next Post

International Body Harmonizes Photovoltaic Safety Technical Standards

The Energy Mix

Copyright 2022 © Smarter Shift Inc. and Energy Mix Productions Inc. All rights reserved.

Navigate Site

  • About
  • Contact
  • Privacy Policy and Copyright
  • Cookie Policy

Follow Us

No Result
View All Result
  • Canada
  • UK & Europe
  • Fossil Fuels
  • Ending Emissions
  • Community Climate Finance
  • Clean Electricity Grid
  • Cities & Communities

Copyright 2022 © Smarter Shift Inc. and Energy Mix Productions Inc. All rights reserved.

Manage Cookie Consent
To provide the best experiences, we use technologies like cookies to store and/or access device information. Consenting to these technologies will allow us to process data such as browsing behaviour or unique IDs on this site. Not consenting or withdrawing consent, may adversely affect certain features and functions.
Functional Always active
The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network.
Preferences
The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.
Statistics
The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes. The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
Marketing
The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes.
Manage options Manage services Manage vendors Read more about these purposes
View preferences
{title} {title} {title}