Snow, what is it good for?

Was listening to Toronto bitching about all the snow they have, and no room to put it.

Seems to me that it might be a good time to discuss the oportunities that all that snow might have to offer.

If we had community snow storage facilities we could use the snow to keep our hospitals, government buildings, malls, offices cool during the hot summer months.

quote:

---

During the summer, the regional hospital in Sundsvall in central Sweden requires 1000 MW h of cooling with a maximum cooling power 1500 kW. From the summer of 2000, seasonally stored snow will be utilised to meet the cooling demand. A storage area of 140 X 60 m with a capacity for 60,000 m[3] (40,000 tons) of snow was constructed in 1999. Initially, about half of this volume will be stored. The storage consists of a shallow pit made of watertight asphalt. A layer of wood chips covering the snow reduces the natural melting to 20-30% of the total volume. Meltwater from the snow storage is pumped to the hospital. After cooling the hospital, the heated meltwater is re-circulated to the snow storage. When all the snow has melted, the wood chips will be burnt in a local heating plant.

---

From [url=http://cat.inist.fr/?aModele=afficheN&cpsidt=1056763]here.[/url]

Man made glaciers.

quote:

---

Just before the onset of winter, Chewang begins to divert small streams of water through pipes to shallow locations about four or five kilometers above Ladakh’s villages. He plugs any gaps for leaks. During winter these lakes freeze into artificial glaciers. Being at relatively lower levels of 13 to 14,000 feet, these glaciers melt by spring to provide water for farming.

---

[url=http://www.goodnewsindia.com/index.php/sieve/article/man-made-glaciers/]... here.[/url]

Any more suggestions/ideas?