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Considering tomorrow today<\/strong><\/b><\/span><\/p>\n Geothermal Energy From Mines<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n 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: –<\/p>\n \u201cFollowing 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.\u201d \u201cWHO KNEW?\u201d \u2013 certainly not me! Intrigued, I discovered an article from which I quote extensively below.<\/p>\n According to the coal authority, one quarter of the UK\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n \u201cThis has been a very exciting piece of work. It\u2019s the first time we have been able to visualise the temperature of Britain\u2019s 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\u00a0<\/em>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\u201d <\/em><\/p>\n Jeremy Crooks, the Coal Authority\u2019s Head of Innovation added,<\/p>\n \u201cWhen 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\u2019s \u00a3320 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\u2019s 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<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n 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?\u201d \u2013 Glenys Stone<\/p>\n For a longer version of this article with links to web information see our blog site https:\/\/wenvoeforum. wordpress.com\/<\/p>\n \u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014<\/p>\n To join our Facebook group, please \u2018friend up\u2019 with the Gwen Fo account @ https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/gwen.fo.1 and then jon the Wenvoe Forum @ https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/groups\/635369267864402<\/p>\n Some further information and updates, blog site https:\/\/wenvoeforum.wordpress.com\/. .<\/p>\n <\/p>\n 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 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[384],"tags":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6cWjO-3oa","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":11936,"url":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=11936","url_meta":{"origin":13030,"position":0},"title":"Nuclear Power \u2013 Discuss","author":"Alan Williams","date":"8th July 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"What Can We Do? Nuclear Power \u2013 Discuss. Part 1 - Forum member Glenys Stone sets out a problem Energy prices are through the roof. \u2018In the short- and long\u2013term, which if any of the available power sources is most practicable, safest and least harmful for the planet\u2019? Is a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Wenvoe Forum"","block_context":{"text":"Wenvoe Forum","link":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?cat=384"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":10983,"url":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=10983","url_meta":{"origin":13030,"position":1},"title":"A Belated Happy New Year!","author":"Alan Williams","date":"7th February 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"\u00a0 WENVOE FORUM Considering Today and Tomorrow A belated Happy New Year! Our apologies. We hadn\u2019t realised that the New Year WO copy date was early and we missed the deadline for the January issue. However, our article on Making 2022 happier can still be read currently on the home\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Wenvoe Forum"","block_context":{"text":"Wenvoe Forum","link":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?cat=384"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/wenvoe.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/Hops.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":11260,"url":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=11260","url_meta":{"origin":13030,"position":2},"title":"Considering Today and Tomorrow","author":"Alan Williams","date":"7th March 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"\u00a0 WENVOE FORUM Considering Today and Tomorrow Global gas prices have seen record increases over the last 6 months, with wholesale prices quadrupling in the last year. They are set to rise further, and with the knock-on effect to electricity production, the Ofgem energy price cap is due to increase\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Wenvoe Forum"","block_context":{"text":"Wenvoe Forum","link":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?cat=384"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":14923,"url":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=14923","url_meta":{"origin":13030,"position":3},"title":"Energy Security","author":"Alan Williams","date":"10th December 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"WENVOE FORUM Considering Tomorrow Today Why not build into the Community plan , - Energy Security One of the potentially biggest problems facing us, here in the UK in the next couple of decades is the failure of our power generation and distribution network. The world around us has changed\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Wenvoe Forum"","block_context":{"text":"Wenvoe Forum","link":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?cat=384"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":14186,"url":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=14186","url_meta":{"origin":13030,"position":4},"title":"An Opportunity For You To Contribute Ideas","author":"Alan Williams","date":"9th April 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"WENVOE FORUM Considering Tomorrow Today AN OPPORTUNITY FOR YOU TO CONTRIBUTE IDEAS Have you ever wondered why your Community Council or the County Council didn\u2019t do something that you thought was obviously a good idea? Or perhaps you thought a plan was a bad idea or you simply identified something\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Wenvoe Forum"","block_context":{"text":"Wenvoe Forum","link":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?cat=384"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":12373,"url":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=12373","url_meta":{"origin":13030,"position":5},"title":"A Round Up Of Activities","author":"Alan Williams","date":"13th October 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Considering tomorrow today A round up of activities We had a great time at the Wenvoe Village Show. Well done all those Wenvoe Hub volunteers for rekindling it after the restrictions of Covid over the past couple of years. This year\u2019s at times, very hot and very dry weather has\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Wenvoe Forum"","block_context":{"text":"Wenvoe Forum","link":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?cat=384"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/wenvoe.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/teddy.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13030"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=13030"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13030\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13035,"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13030\/revisions\/13035"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=13030"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=13030"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=13030"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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\u201cIn 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.\u201d Project leader Gareth Farr, BGC geoscientist said<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/wenvoe.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/coalMap2.jpg?resize=200%2C187\")
The article continues \u201cIt 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\u2019s 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.\u201d<\/p>\n
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