Underground, about 100 meters down, the temperature barely moves. It stays near 15 degrees Celsius all year. A Japanese-led team is now using that steady warmth to heat and cool a building in Dushanbe, the capital of Tajikistan.
How it works
The system began operating this month at the National Academy of Sciences of Tajikistan, and was shown to government officials and local residents on Friday. It uses the difference between the constant ground temperature and the air above: that difference provides heating in winter and air conditioning in summer. Professors at Japan’s Akita University have led the project since 2021, with help from the Japan Science and Technology Agency and the Japan International Cooperation Agency. The stated aim is to help Tajikistan fight global warming.
Why coal is the problem
Mountains cover more than 90 percent of Tajikistan, a landlocked country of more than 11 million people. Dushanbe alone has over 1.2 million. Power shortages hit hardest in winter, when heating demand climbs, and many schools, hospitals and households turn to coal. That leaves the country trying to secure energy while cutting carbon dioxide emissions and air pollution. For families who heat with coal, a system that needs no fuel to burn would change the winter routine.
Hospitals next
The Academy installation comes first. The system is scheduled to go into hospitals in the suburbs of the capital next, and expectations are rising that households will use it widely in future.
Professor Inagaki Fumiaki, one of the project leaders at Akita University, said he hopes the system will become widely available in Tajikistan and that people there will eventually be able to build it themselves. His team will keep working to promote the technology and raise public awareness.
Sources
- Japan-led geothermal project underway in Tajikistan | NHK WORLD-JAPAN News
- Tajikistan
- Li Qiang Arrives in Dushanbe for an Official Visit to Tajikistan and the 25th Meeting of the Council of Heads of Government (Prime Ministers) of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization_Embassy of the People's Republic of China in the United States of America
Photo: VASHGIRD (CC BY-SA 4.0)
