One by-product of the remarkable new Lötschberg Base tunnel which opened last winter in Switzerland. Cutting rail journey times from Zurich to ski resorts in the south of the country by about an hour, is that every second, about 100 litres of naturally geo-thermally warm water (about 20°C) flow out of the tunnel.
To protect the local River Kander, a spawning ground for the endangered Lake Trout, this mountain water must be cooled during the winter months. Only then can the warming of the Kander be kept below an acceptable 0.5°C.
To take best advantage of this natural resource a new tropical greenhouse, a unique, international geothermal project, is under construction at Frutigen, a town linked to the nearby ski area of Adelboden. The facility will take waste heat and water from the Lötschberg tunnel and use it to grow tropical fruit and breed warm-water fish in the Swiss Alps.
The warm and pure mountain water is reported to be an ideal medium for the breeding of the warm-water fish and the large amount of residual energy can be used in the production of tropical fruit as well as for heating local buildings.