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Summary
Denver is gearing up to warm and cool chunks of its downtown with a first-of-its-kind hybrid thermal network that links deep geothermal wells, a closed loop of circulating water and heat skimmed straight from city sewers. City officials say the system could eventually serve office towers, museums and even keep sidewalks clear of ice, all without burning fossil fuels. They expect the plan to move from paper to an on-the-ground pilot within the next two years.
Warm wastewater flowing through large interceptor pipes carries usable thermal energy that can be captured with plate-and-frame heat exchangers, then boosted by heat pumps into building heat. Metro Water Recovery says the method is already proven and can be scaled to serve campus-level and district-sized loads. Denver is not starting from scratch, either. The same approach is in place at the National Western Center, where a central utility plant captures heat from sewer flows to supply energy to campus buildings.
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