Geothermal Energy From Mines
WENVOE FORUM
Considering tomorrow today
Geothermal Energy From Mines
During lockdown I signed up for Senedd updates on Covid statistics. As the crisis receded, I discovered a wealth of other information available at the click of a button, all freely accessible via this portal. One of the available links – to the BGS (British Geological Survey) – looked interesting; imagining dinosaurs and heliotropes, earnest students and crusty old academics imparting pearls of wisdom suitable for quiz questions, I clicked. The first thing I came across was this, almost throw away, notification of a symposium: –
“Following on from the successful events in 2021 and 2022, there is now an Open Call for Contributions for The Mine Water Energy 2023 Symposium, which will be held on 19-20 April 2023.” “WHO KNEW?” – certainly not me! Intrigued, I discovered an article from which I quote extensively below.
According to the coal authority, one quarter of the UK’s residential properties sit on the coalfields. Abandoned mines often fill with water that is warmed by natural geothermal processes, these are now being developed as a source of low carbon energy to heat homes and businesses.
“In December 2020 BGS and the Coal Authority released an interactive map showing where the mines are and the extent by which temperatures increase with depth. The mapping tool is freely available to use by developers, planners and researchers to identify opportunities to investigate the use of UK mine water as a sustainable heat source. It is the first time the data have been brought together in this way, and illustrates the long-term feasibility of heating homes and buildings using this zero-carbon energy source.” Project leader Gareth Farr, BGC geoscientist said
“This has been a very exciting piece of work. It’s the first time we have been able to visualise the temperature of Britain’s coalfields. We have found records of heat temperatures going back over 100 years and compared them to temperatures in the mines now and found them to be quite similar. This is a clear indication that geothermal processes that create this heat will be here for a long time to come. Combined with other layers of data, the maps provide an important groundwork for developers, local authorities, and scientists to explore new mine water heating schemes, and we are hopeful they will be of value to inform policy decision making”
The article continues “It is recognised that geothermal energy from mines, combined with heat pump technology, could provide a sustainable energy source for these networks that is both local and low cost. Technical specialists at the coal authority say there is potential to kick-start a new renewable industry, creating employment, tackling climate change, and attracting investment to the coalfield communities previously disadvantaged by mine closures. When aligned with the government’s ten point plan for a green industrial revolution, the warm water in abandoned coal mines is now being seen as a viable new form of sustainable energy with the potential to play a vital role in making homes and public buildings greener, warmer and more energy efficient.”
Jeremy Crooks, the Coal Authority’s Head of Innovation added,
“When miners were working in hot, dusty conditions, they would not have known that their efforts and the heat they worked in, would one day create a sustainable source of energy for hundreds of years to come. We are currently reviewing over thirty potential heat network opportunities using geothermal mine energy. Seaham garden village and Gateshead are the first two such schemes to secure funding from the government’s £320 million heat network investment programme, with others to follow. Heating accounts for 44 per cent of energy use in the UK and 32 per cent of its air pollution. It’s ironic that mining coal, a fossil fuel, would provide access to a low carbon, clean air, energy source that will last far longer than the 200 years of intensive mining that created this opportunity.”
Surely this is an exciting opportunity that we can exploit in Wales. Maybe the excessively wealthy oil companies could sink (no pun intended) just some of their vast profits into what could be a very successful, viable scheme?” – Glenys Stone
For a longer version of this article with links to web information see our blog site https://wenvoeforum. wordpress.com/
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