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ELK RIVER ICE ARENA—ICE SYSTEM EVALUATION AND RECOMMENDATIONS <br /> ALTERNATIVE ENERGY SOURCES <br /> General <br /> Ice arena facilities use large amounts of energy. With high <br /> energy use come opportunities to apply new technologies that <br /> may reduce energy use and the opportunity to explore <br /> technologies that focus on sustainable and/or renewable energy <br /> sources. This section briefly discusses several alternative energy <br /> sources that the City may want to consider when the facility is <br /> renovated. <br /> Greenhouse Gas Reduction <br /> Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions are increasingly being <br /> considered when choosing between facility/process <br /> alternatives. Although there is not currently a cost associated <br /> with greenhouse gas emissions, there is the potential that there <br /> will be. Alternatives with lower GHG emissions therefore have <br /> the potential to have lower on-going costs. At the New Hope <br /> Arena, the primary sources of GHG emissions are natural gas <br /> combustion and electricity use. In addition, there are GHG <br /> emissions associated with the manufacture and use of the <br /> refrigerant R-22. <br /> Geothermal <br /> Geothermal exchange systems offer numerous opportunities for <br /> energy savings in an ice arena application. Geothermal systems <br /> are considered a renewable energy source and have been the <br /> focus of a recent wave of funding opportunities from the <br /> Federal Government. A detailed analysis should be performed <br /> when considering incorporating geothermal systems with the <br /> ice system improvements. <br /> Construction of several geothermal type ice systems have <br /> recently been completed using traditional well type systems Photo P-31: Well drilling rig for a <br /> (e.g. Burnsville Ice Center in 2010) and non-traditional geothermal system. <br /> geothermal systems (e.g. Brooklyn Park in 2010). The Brooklyn <br /> Park Arena project used the City's well water source as a <br /> geothermal sink in place of the traditional well field, saving over <br /> $200,000 in construction costs and increasing the energy <br /> savings. As these projects "season" or are "fine tuned", <br /> extremely valuable information will be available on lowering <br /> energy use and GHG emissions to apply to the next generation <br /> of ice rink systems. The City will benefit from the information <br /> collected on these projects. <br /> 27 <br />