My two favorite companies to snark on for their lame green efforts are Mattel (Barbie) and Disney. The latest efforts from Disney are occurring abroad. I can’t even comprehend Disneyland Paris. Tacky American culture in the City of Light. Arrgh!
Euro Disney plans to use an innovative idea for heating parts of the park. Capturing the heat given off by computers, Dalkia, a French energy company, will utilize this wasted heat for 6,500,000 square foot of indoor space. Treehugger reports:
The data centers producing the heat are in the Val d’Europe business park, largely owned by Disney, near the Disneyland Paris park itself. Dalkia estimates that the plan, set to start early next year, will save 5,400 metric tons of CO2 emissions each year.
Dalkia isn’t the first to come up with the idea of recovering computer heat and putting it to use- Microsoft researchers proposed it earlier this year. But the French company is putting its money where its mouth is, a major step forward in the fight for clean energy.
This is a great idea that will hopefully be emulated elsewhere. I still won’t be visiting Disneyland Paris, innovative heat ideas or not.
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Some rights reserved by Sean MacEntee
It’s not like a McDonalds went up next to the Eiffel Tower. I’m not sure Disney World is really tacky American Culture. It’s all the cheap plastic crap (made in China) that’s sold as an adjunct that is. But watching the fireworks over the Magic Castle, going on rides and meeting costumed characters is wonderful for kids. Plus, some of the ice cream shops even carry cow friendly rice ice cream now!