Potential of geothermal heat under Glasgow and other UK mining cities and towns.

As a company who specialise in the abstraction and utilisation of ground water a in several different ways, including to feed renewable heating systems, this article in renews.biz caught our eye. Although not strictly aligned to our operations, the ability to utilise existing structures and ground water to provide heat and heat storage is exciting.

As part of research into alternative renewables, the UK Geoenergy Observatory in Glasgow has compiled data from 12 boreholes to help scientists understand the subsurface better and identify how mine water can be used as a renewable heat source to provide heat to industry and homes.

Sensors have been fitted to the network of boreholes, some as deep as 200m, which observe how warm water moves in abandoned, flooded mines beneath the city.

Data including drilling logs, hydrogeological data and optical images is available to researchers from around the world to close knowledge gaps in minewater heat and storage.

Many cities and towns in the UK are located near old mine workings which have the potential to provide a sustainable heating option to local areas.

A second UK Observatory is planned for Cheshire and will cover a range of geoenergy technologies including shallow heat recovery and heat storage.

To read the full article, click here.

Additional information on this topic can be found on the BBC website here.