International. In Fiji, two remote villages located on the small island of Vanua Levu have no refrigeration system to preserve food. But they have hot springs. Professor Regenauer-Lieb of the University of New South Wales in Sydney proposed the idea of extracting hot water from those hot springs (which come out of the ground at 70°C) to power an absorption cooling facility in Natewa Bay. According to Regenauer-Lieb, this would represent a reliable renewable approach to cooling in villages and urban areas.
The technology has already been tested in Alaska, where a hot spring delivers ice for a year-round museum. According to Regenauer-Lieb, with deeper drilling, geothermal energy could power the entire island and neighboring islands.
Much of Regenauer-Lieb's previous research has explored the much more difficult, risky and expensive non-volcanic geothermal energy opportunities that require drilling deep wells in places like Perth and Cooper Basin.
He says that with geothermal energy so close to the surface, Fiji's islands (which lie in the Pacific Ring of Fire) are a perfect low-risk, high-benefit place to install this kind of technology.
In addition, he says that the remoteness of the village and the fact that it is not connected to the grid provides a wonderful opportunity to train people in the philosophy of geothermal energy, which is to embrace heat as a commodity that can be used again and again. variety of applications.
"Instead of using a low-power centralized air conditioner and refrigerated warehouse, the natural tendency is to individually buy an air conditioner or a reverse cycle refrigerator that consumes a lot of electricity. This, in turn, will increase electricity consumption and the size and investment needed for a geothermal power plant," said Regenauer-Lieb.
Source: The University of New South Wales.
