This week Cleantechies reports on an innovative plan by the Paris Metro to use excess heat generated by riders and vehicles to heat a nearby building.
You read that right, generated by riders.
The essence of the plan is rather straightforward: Humans generate a large amount of body heat. When humans use underground transit systems, that heat gets trapped underground as waste.
A housing project near Paris’ famous Pompidou museum is being renovated such that a stairwell connected to the Metro will funnel this excess heat from a subterranean Metro station up into the housing project above. According to sources quoted in the article, the project is based on geothermal technology and should cut carbon emissions by 1/3 in the housing project.
The entire concept makes logical sense and exemplifies the industrial ecology principle of turning the output/waste of one industry into the input/product of another.
Should this project become successful and researchers find ways to scale this technology upwards, a question will need to be asked: Could a Metro/Subway system make money selling riders’ body heat to warm the buildings along its route?
As energy costs increase (notwithstanding current recession-level bargains) and transit systems face progressively worse balance sheets, could this be a future revenue stream for public transportation?