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A pollution-less and energy free refrigerator
A friend and I stand in front of the main building of the snow-cellar. The actual cellar lies beyond the main building. 99.12.15/ Temperature: -1C/ Weather: Snow/ Wind Direction: W
Subject: A pollution-less and energy free refrigerator
Current Location: Tokamachi 37 10 00 N 138 47 50 E
Distance Traveled: 0 km (Rest day)How much electricity and chloroflorocarbons could we save if we all had natural refrigerators. In some mountainous regions of Nigata, people have made good use of the abundance of snowfall by creating natural refrigerators. Yesterday I came across a modern snow-cellar which is used for making pickles and storing sake (Japanese rice wine).
Apparently Sumon Village is quite famous for its snow cellars which are used to store some delicious sakes of Nigata. The cellar that lay on route to Hirogami Village works in both the pickling and sake business. Pickles must be stored in a cool environment so they do not rot. Sake acquires a rich, smooth taste after years of storage in the snow cellars.
In the old days people made use of the natural snow cellars by lining dug out holes with rice straw. Inside they placed pickled and raw vegetables to last throughout the winter. This principle has taken on a grander scale in several snow cellars throughout Sumon Villages.
Inside the snow cellar, I receive an explanation about the preparation of pickled daikon (Japanese radish). Two large doors separated the approximately 15x15m snow cellar from the main building of the "Snow Cellar and Farm Product Processing Center". My body thermometer registered at about 1 degree when I passed through the second door and stepped into the cellar. I soon learned that the average temperature YEAR ROUND was 2 degrees Celsius.
The cellar smelled of salt and fermentation. Crates of sake and large bins of pickled cucumbers and gourds lined the walls of the cellar. It was the largest walk in cellar I've ever been in.
Much to my surprise, the cellar which I visited is able to keep its cellar cool for all 12 months of the year. It accomplishes this by first covering the entire cellar in snow throughout the winter. Next a large silver sheet is pulled over the snow in order to insulate the snow and cellar through the long spring and summer. By late fall, the outdoor temperature is cool enough to remove the sheet and wait for the first snowfall of winter. Though the maintenance of the insulating sheets is difficult there are no energy costs for the cellar and there are no harmful substances used. It is a clever use of the mountainous regions' natural phenomenon, snow. Perhaps not all of our natural environments allow us to have a pollution-less, energy-less refrigerator year round. However, cellars show the wise use that humans have made of natural phenomena.
Can you all think of any other wise uses of natural phenomena?
Greg
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