Global Perspectives - February 2017

Amsterdam uses underground water to cool its blood bank.

Keeping a blood bank cool is vital to ensure the supply avoids spoilage and contamination. But the energy requirement to reach and sustain the specific temperatures can be very high and contribute significantly to carbon emissions. A blood bank in the Netherlands may have found a solution to that. 

Sanquin, a blood supply foundation in Amsterdam, has begun using public drinking water to cool down its blood supply and drug production line. This leads to the rest of the city’s drinking water reducing in temperature.  

This change in method has been implemented courtesy of a hot-cold storage system that the city of Amsterdam introduced in selected areas a few years ago. The Long-Term Energy Storage system provides a supply of heat or cooling to local commercial buildings by using the energy stored in the groundwater. A series of reversible heat pumps draws the hot or cold water from two wells and transfers it into two main underground distribution pipes in the city, to which all connected buildings have access. 

When the buildings draw heat or cooling from the groundwater pipes, it allows for an exchange of heat or cold with another building. A bio-oil-fired boiler has also been installed to aid the exchange at peak times. 

The system has been pioneered in some high-profile buildings, including the famous art museum the Rijksmuseum.

The system has negligible environmental effects and should save an annual 3,200 tonnes of CO₂ emissions in comparison with traditional installations for heating and cooling, according to Siemens Green City Index. 

Amsterdam’s CO₂ emissions per head per year are 6.6 tonnes, according to the Green Capital Award application, which are above the average of 5 tonnes for Europe. Although the largest contributor of emissions is a result of transport and traffic in the city, the second largest culprit is building heating, as well as construction. 

Sanquin stated that the company could save up to 1,900 tonnes of CO₂ every year with this method.

Water has always been intimately connected to the city of Amsterdam owing to the numerous interlinking canals. Water consumption per head is low, at only 53m³ per inhabitant per year, and only 3.5% of water is lost to leakage per year, according to Siemens Green City Index. 

In 2009, the authorities launched several initiatives across the city, collaboratively called Smart City Amsterdam. The environmental schemes aim to lower carbon emissions and reduce energy consumption to meet green goals. The initiatives included fitting most homes with water meters to encourage efficiency of use, as well as introducing water tariffs to encourage more conservative consumption.

Sanquin’s cooling process, in partnership with Dutch water company Waternet, could inspire several cities across Europe to employ their underground water systems in the same way as an environmentally and economically viable option for cooling.