Revolutionary British invention of Thermal Banks

A revolutionary British invention that uses the surfaces of motorways to collect and store energy for heating and cooling roads and buildings throughout the year began official trials adjacent to the M1 near London in June 2005. The Highways Agency trials, project managed by TRL Limited on a section of land next to the M1 motorway at Toddington Services, Bedfordshire, will last two years. The trials will use two different methods of collecting and storing energy in ThermalBanks to demonstrate how Interseasonal Heat Transfer can be used to heat and cool roads and buildings near the motorway.

Interseasonal Heat Transfer (IHT™) developed by a London-based sustainable energy firm ICAX Ltd is a low-cost, low-maintenance process that uses simple underground Thermal Banks to store energy collected from asphalt roads in the summer and release the heat back to the roads on winter nights to prevent ice forming on the surface.

Interseasonal Heat Transfer™ could make a significant contribution to reducing global warming by cutting the use of fossil fuels for heating and cooling buildings.

ICAX Solar Road Systems reduce the need for salting and gritting roads in winter. Gritting pollutes the water table, rusts vehicles and contributes to the carbon emissions that accelerate global warming.

 

See Ground Source Heating          See Ground Source Cooling          See Ground Source Energy