Xuzhou Cools Homes with Abandoned Coal Mine Water, Skip AC Amid Heatwave

Residents in Xuzhou, Jiangsu, are cooling their homes with water from a closed coal mine, keeping indoor temperatures below 26 degrees Celsius without turning on air conditioners, China Central Television reported yesterday.

Outdoor temperatures in Xuzhou have topped 35 degrees in recent days, but a woman surnamed Wang in the city's central area said her home remained below 26 degrees. The cooling comes from low-temperature water flowing through pipes beneath the floor, creating a radiant cooling system.

The water comes from the abandoned Woniushan Coal Mine. Although the mine has shut down, water in its underground passages remains around 19 degrees and continues to flow, providing a natural cooling source. A local company pumps the water to a heat-exchange station in a residential community and sends the cooled water through the same pipe network used for winter heating.

A research project leader at a heat-supply company said the system extracts cooling capacity from the mine water and reduces the urban heat-island effect associated with air-conditioning units.

Compared with conventional air conditioning, the system uses about 50 percent less energy. Based on the cooling load of nearly 100 households in the pilot community, it could cut annual carbon dioxide emissions by about 50 tons.

Xuzhou's urban area currently has two heat-supply companies, each serving about half of local users. Authorities said they plan to expand the cooling system if the pilot succeeds. Residents in the pilot community will pay 4 yuan (55 US cents) per square meter, collected quarterly.