How #Paris's #SeineRiver keeps the #Louvre cool in summer
Delphine PAYSANT
Wed, June 18, 2025
"As Paris braces for a #heatwave this weekend, a little-known network of underground pipes will be cooling the Louvre museum and other storied landmarks using water from the Seine river.
"Since 1991, the river water has been cooling more than 800 buildings via a humble but hard-working system that is still relatively under-utilised worldwide.
"Paris boasts the largest such urban cooling network in Europe: 110 kilometres (68 miles) of subterranean pipes criss-crossing the City of Light, reducing its need for energy-guzzling air conditioning.
" 'It's like 'Batman'!' exclaimed a passer-by in the chic and touristy eighth arrondissement or district of Paris, as a manhole cover was removed to reveal a spiral staircase to the cooling network below.
"The technology is not new: the headquarters of the United Nations in New York has been using water from the East River for cooling since the 1950s.
"But much planning and construction is necessary and as such, these efficient and #sustainable cooling systems remain relatively rare.
"But in Paris, the network has grown considerably in recent years to confront more intense and frequent #heatwaves, with the first of the summer forecast this coming weekend.
"The process works much the same as a district heating network, but in reverse: heat is transferred from the air to chilled water pumped via pipes to buildings around the city.
"But unlike conventional #AirConditioning, it does not blast hot air into the streets, according to Fraicheur de Paris, which manages the Seine cooling network and others in #Barcelona, #Singapore and #Dubai.
"The company, co-owned by the French energy utility Engie, says it also offers significant savings in electricity consumption, chemical use and emissions of planet-warming carbon dioxide.
"Heatwaves could push summer temperatures to 50 degrees Celsius (122 Fahrenheit) by 2050 in Paris, said Raphaelle Nayral, secretary general of Fraicheur de Paris.
"The city needs a more sustainable solution than air conditioning units with their associated heat and energy burden, she added."
Source:
https://www.yahoo.com/news/pariss-seine-river-keeps-louvre-102539210.html
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