From the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, Monday, October 26, 2009:
The roots of downtown’s largest plant tunnel under much of the city, thick steel pipes twisting beneath intersections and sidewalks on their way toward the city’s biggest buildings.
Instead of absorbing water, however, these roots deliver it, and are a major unseen space heating supplier.
Private and public utility specialists have for years looked at expanding the pipe network — a district heating system that feeds the bulk of downtown’s commercial landscape with cheap heat. Any expansion would cut community-wide heating costs. Aurora Energy, which owns the network, estimates the system replaces the need for 2 million gallons of fuel oil per year, and say it could easily expand two- or three-fold.
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