Mongolian City Will Turn Itself Into An Icebox

Genuinely well aged Gizmodo readers might recall the old-fashioned Ice Box; for most of the rest of us it’s a part of history. History, in this case that could be repeating itself on a rather massive scale in Mongolia, as the capital looks to turn itself into a giant icebox.

The Guardian reports that the Mongolian city of Ulan Bator will trial a scheme whereby frozen rivers are artificially primed to create Naleds — large thick sheets of ice — by drilling into ice as it’s freezing on the city’s rivers. This makes water flow up over the ice and then freeze itself. The process is repeated to make sheets that can be exceptionally thick.

The naleds will then be stored and used as both a fresh water supply and alternative to air conditioning for large parts of the city in the summer. [Guardian via Architizer]
Image: kimberlykv