
Can ice structures solve a Himalayan water crisis? - yumraj
http://www.bbc.com/news/business-40404852
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colechristensen
The Minnesota versions of those are the places they dump snow cleared from
roads. Some of them last into July. Somebody should tell these guys to add a
nice insulating layer of dirt.

[https://blogs.mprnews.org/newscut/2017/06/despite-heat-
snow-...](https://blogs.mprnews.org/newscut/2017/06/despite-heat-snow-pile-
hangs-on-in-austin/)

~~~
cotillion
Its how the local hospital here is cooled during the summer. Large pile of
snow which is covered in wood chips. Apparently it generated 1345,3 MWh
cooling energy in 2002..

[http://www.snowpower.se/sundsvalls-
kylanlaggning_en.asp](http://www.snowpower.se/sundsvalls-kylanlaggning_en.asp)

~~~
mschaef
Cornell does something similar, using Cayuga Lake as a heat sink for their
campus cooling:

[https://medium.com/cornell-university/lake-source-
cooling-d3...](https://medium.com/cornell-university/lake-source-
cooling-d307913dfc47)

~~~
mthoms
As does the city of Toronto
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deep_water_source_cooling](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deep_water_source_cooling)

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ZeroGravitas
This seems similar to something they do in India but just with water. They
trap the water in the rainy seasons in ways that let it seep into the ground.
The tech just involves piles of mud.

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johad](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johad)

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_ph_
A nice example how some clever engineering which doesn't require many
resources can improve the living conditions a lot. After all, human
civilization really took off with early irrigation technologies. Climate
change already today means, that the living conditions all through the world
are changing. While fighting climate change itself should be the global top
priority, projects like this are so important to deal with the already
existing consequences - and give hope that with more work like this we can at
least compensate for some of the changes.

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calvinbhai
For those who have watched the Bollywood movie “3 idiots”, the role of Dr
Phunsuk Wangdu was/is inspired by Sonam Wangchuk.

Ice stupas are quite a sight if you happen to visit Leh Ladakh area in India

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jahnu
Reminds me of the Yakhchāl I've visited in Yazd, Iran. They used to sell ice
from those in the summer to traders travelling the Silk Road.

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yakhch%C4%81l](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yakhch%C4%81l)

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sandworm101
How many of these things would be needed? It seems a great idea if you can
harvest the melt water directly, but the idea is to let it seep into the
streams and rivers. This thing looks big, but compared to the volume of water
carried by even a tiny stream it is nothing. Water for drinking is measured in
liters. Water for agriculture is measured in terms of acre-feet (just over
1x10^6 liters). I'm thinking perhaps a million such structures would be needed
to make any real difference to agriculture below a particular watershed. If
they all need underground pipes then this would become a huge project, akin to
more traditional approaches such as dams.

~~~
eru
A nice thing about this is that you can deploy them incrementally. A large dam
is more of an all-or-nothing proposition.

~~~
sandworm101
On a river system a system of dams can be incremental. Giant dams are all
about creating water pressure for power generation. If you are interested in
mitigating water flow over the course of a year within a watershed then a
series of much smaller structures can be built incrementally.

There is a very western parallel to this issue. Most ski resorts are suffering
from reduced snow and earlier springs. To feed their snow-making equipment
they need water, preferably water that doesn't need to be pumped up a mountain
or harvested from a protected river. Look around and you'll see alpine dams
being build and expanded at large resorts. These aren't holding back streams,
they are using terrain to store water/snow/ice in one season for use in an
another, exactly the same problem.

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eru
Oh, true about water retention vs power generation.

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awjr
Watched Dune the other day. Seems very reminiscent of moisture traps. A simple
idea that enables long term storage of moisture for when it is most needed.

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louithethrid
Could the melting water be used to drive a generator, that cools the ice?

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QAPereo
Just remember that it will never be “free” energy, there will at least be
thermodynamic losses in principle, and that will be greatly amplified in
reality.

