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Underground Rivers, Xcaret

Environmental group 10:10 Climate Action sees untapped potential in waste heat extracted from waterways buried beneath the British capital.

Excerpt:

Yet unbeknownst to many — presumably including a decent number of Britons — there are dozens of smaller rivers and canals flowing through the heart of the British capital city aside from the Thames: the Effra, the Tyburn, the Walbrook, the Westbourne and the once-mighty Fleet to name a few.

So why then do these waterways go largely unmentioned and unnoticed?

The answer is a straightforward one. It's because you can't actually see many of them as they were buried deep beneath the city streets eons ago.

Thanks to environmental nonprofit 10:10 Climate Action, the so-called "lost rivers" of London are back in the news. While it might come as a surprise that these mysterious sunken waterways are being touted by the group as a promising green heat source, it's likely an even bigger surprise — or at least to those who aren't familiar with London's vast, complicated and filth-riddled history — that they even exist at all.

London isn't the only city to be built atop subterranean watercourses that have gradually been paved over and buried, some in their entirety, to make way for new development. Toronto, Brussels, Vienna, Moscow, Sydney, New York City and Philadelphia all are home to rivers, creeks, brooks and streams that have been forced underground. It is however, the first major city where there's a movement underway to tap into its lost waterways on a city-wide basis as a means of curbing greenhouse gas emissions.

Steamy underground sewer systems, whether they were once natural watercourses or not, are primo places to extract natural heat using water-source heat pumps, which the Guardian describes as working like "reverse refrigerators." Once extracted, this captured heat can be transported to neighboring office buildings and residential complexes, negating the need for burning fossil fuels for heat, which is the norm in London. In turn, a significant amount of air-polluting carbon emissions are avoided.

#underground rivers #London #heat pumps

Geronimo Canyon, Wollangambe, NSW, Australia

The Sumac Cave System

The country of Thalis is riddled with a network of natural underground rivers that serve as a cheap, swift mode of transportation. Though faster than carriages, the narrow river boats and damp tunnels allow very little room for luxury items or comfort. As a result, their passengers are mostly merchants, medics, or plain ordinary folk.

TSS Excerpts: The Halagrad Docks

The tunnel ahead narrowed again until it finally spilled them into the dock area- a massive cavern cradling a black, mirror-smooth lake. The vast space allowed for a bifurcated dock, with sleek, narrow passenger boats to the left, and larger merchant boats to the right. People on both sides all waited and toiled under the supervision of massive stalactites dripping from the vaulted ceiling. Most kept their voices low, as if loud noise would break one of the stone needles and shatter the lake like glass.

Up ahead, the portly man emerging from the boathouse held no such fear.

“Silver per person for Vornik, two silver for Thisby!” he shouted gaily into the chill void. “Don’t forget to sign the logbook as you pay.”

***

It was fortunate that the first stretch of the Vornik route was one of the most beautiful in southern Vidanya, or else Emry may have chosen to throw himself overboard and swim the rest of the way just to stop his mind from whirring. Stalactites and lumpy stone pillars gave way to a score of sinkholes, all curtained in vines and glittering sunbeams. Aspen tapped a paw on one low-hanging vine as they passed through the pools of light, and flowers rippled up the foliage.

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#the stray spirit #underground rivers #wish there were caves in my area #tw: caves