- Seville faces extreme heat, dubbed “Heatwave Yago” for its intensity
- Ancient qanat technology inspires innovative cooling solutions in Seville
- Scientists and architects adapt qanat principles to combat rising temperatures
Seville, located in southern Spain, experienced summertime temperatures exceeding 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit) last year. The intensity of the heatwave merited a moniker: Heatwave Yago, the second event bearing the city’s name in the past two years.
Similar to numerous other cities in Europe and globally, Seville is currently grappling with temperatures that exceed its structural capacity. In London, England, railway tracks and airport tarmac were dissolved by extreme heat in the summer of 2022. Germans began contemplating midday siestas in July 2023 as a means to flee the oppressive heat.
Amid soaring temperatures, municipalities that are customary to lower temperatures are exploring alternatives to energy-intensive systems such as air conditioning to adapt.
An innovative research group based in Seville draws inspiration from ancient Middle Eastern civilizations that developed a tolerance for extreme heat before the advent of electricity as a means of relief.
While some perceive their endeavors as a tribute to the sagacity of ancient philosophers, others contend that these antiquated systems embody a mindset of sustainability that the contemporary world is urgently attempting to revive and are not merely technological.
“A unique connection exists between humans and nature”
Majid Labbaf Khaneiki is among a limited number of specialists who are contributing to the modernization of qanats, an underground aqueduct technology that dates back 3,000 years.
Initial qanat tunnel construction occurred in Afghanistan, China, Oman, and the United Arab Emirates using picks and spades. Scholars believe that the initial qanat originated in Persia during the early 1st millennium and subsequently disseminated to arid regions across the globe.
A network of subterranean channels, situated between 20 and 200 meters beneath the desert’s surface, supplied water to lower elevations via the ancient system. Constructed atop a gentle incline, the canals employ momentum to convey water. A sequence of vertical structures resembling wells facilitates access and maintenance.
The system appears from above as if it were thousands of anthills meandering through the desert in a lined formation. The actual action takes place underground, where water is gathered before its passage through the canals.
Khaneiki, an archaeohydrology professor at the University of Nizwa in Oman and a 49-year-old scholar, has devoted his entire professional life to the investigation of ancient tunnel systems that transport water beneath the surface of arid and semi-arid regions. His household was laden with history texts, and his father was an archaeologist by profession.
The linguistic origin of Khaneiki’s surname is Kanek, a small, desolate village in eastern Iran from which his ancestors originated. As a child, Khaneiki spent several summers there. “The qanat was the only source of water for that village,” he continues, adding that its direct flow enabled it to transform into a verdant oasis amidst the arid.
“The qanat served as a location for people to gather in congregation.” “I recall meeting other young people at that location, where we used to play together,” he recalls. The qanat system and social interaction are inextricably linked. Perhaps my keen interest stems from the fact that it constitutes an intrinsic component of my persona and sense of self.
Khaneiki possesses endearing eyes, and he is adamant that qanats should be regarded as systems of the future, not merely those of the past. He remarks with a chuckle, “My surname ought to have been Qanat Builder.” Within minutes, he regurgitates contemporary qanat undertakings in Spain, Pakistan, and Azerbaijan.
He describes how the construction of these qanats differs significantly from the cooperative endeavors of ancient systems. To illustrate, the government of Azerbaijan constructed a novel qanat utilizing a state-of-the-art apparatus to augment employment opportunities and resource allocation to less-populated regions and mitigate internal migration. “This was an extremely top-down approach to management,” he explains. “Historically, it was bottom-up.”
Khaneiki states, “The qanat system consists of more than just tunnels in the ground.” “It is a way of life.”
The irrigation capabilities of the ancient qanat system facilitated the growth of agriculture in arid regions and promoted collaboration among communities. It serves as the foundation for decentralized water management in Iran and is an environmentally preferable alternative to contemporary irrigation and dam systems.
Qanats are among the oldest concepts of a corporation in history,” explains Negar Sanaan Bensi, a researcher and lecturer in the architecture faculty at the Netherlands’ Delft University of Technology. “They are based on a massive shareholding system” that necessitates the cooperation of various residents of a region to utilize the available water resources.
It operated in a manner analogous to contemporary startup operations. A group of two individuals gathered to begin excavating for water using hand-held implements. After obtaining the necessities, additional individuals would congregate, augment the tunnel, and vie for their portion of the resources. This eventually permeated the entire nation, with individual municipalities overseeing their respective qanats. “At first, there were four or five individuals,” Khaneiki explains. “However, by the end, hundreds of individuals had agreed to cooperate.”
Given their traditional design, cultural significance, and the designation of some qanats as UNESCO World Heritage Sites, Khaneiki asserts that he is presently investigating how qanats are being utilized for architectural and recreational purposes rather than irrigation and cultivation. China, which possesses eighty thousand qanat systems, has constructed a museum detailing the engineering and historical significance of each system. Additionally, statues depict qanat constructors at work, either excavating tunnels using a pickaxe or gathering soil.
Khaneiki states, “They [qanats] are also reviving for the purpose of climate change.”
How the outdated is being reborn
Even further from China and thousands of kilometers from the arid regions of the Middle East, scientists Jose Sanchez Ramos and Servando Alvarez are constructing an oasis in the city of Seville using the concept of qanats.
To address the issue of increasing temperatures, the city granted Ramos and Alvarez the opportunity to select a site where they could conduct an experiment involving the reduction of outdoor temperatures without the use of energy-intensive technologies.
A region to the northwest of Seville’s city center, La Isla de La Cartuja, was one of these alternatives. Once upon a time, the 1992 Seville Exposition was situated in the vicinity, attracting a staggering 41 million visitors. Despite the city’s efforts to urbanize the area, it currently appears largely deserted, with cracked pathways, overgrown vegetation, and a dilapidated monorail station.
Nevertheless, the vicinity accommodates a football stadium, a research and development complex with a workforce of 15 thousand individuals, and the International University of Andalucía (UNIA). An abandoned Exposition-era amphitheater has been transformed into the focal point of Ramos and Alvarez’s opus.
CartujaQanat, an initiative inspired by the Persian qanat system, aims to reduce the ambient temperature of a two-soccer-field-sized area on La Isla de La Cartuja by 6 to 7 degrees Celsius.
This 5-million-euro ($5.1m) initiative, which is partially funded by the Urban Innovative Actions (UIA) office of the European Union, consists of a 20-meter-deep water channel whose purpose is not to transport water.
The water’s coolness is propelled upwards by vertical outlets situated along the canal, thereby facilitating a decrease in the ground temperature. The day-night cycle is crucial to climate control techniques,” says Ramos.
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Around 140 cubic meters [36,984 cubic gallons] of underground water cools off at night due to naturally low temperatures. A portion of the water is piped upward and directed towards the solar-paneled roof of the amphitheater. By directing water from nozzles across the panels, a phenomenon known as “falling film” is produced. This mechanism facilitates the chilling process by decreasing the water’s depth, thereby permitting it to cool more rapidly in low outdoor temperatures.
Throughout the day, cooled water is propelled above ground by solar-powered pumps. This water is then directed through narrow conduits and positioned in front of fans, which discharge the chilled air into the amphitheater’s ground floor. Externally, a distinct arrangement of emitters situated in small bodies of water emits a mist that is cooled via evaporation.
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