At least one quarter of UK homes sit above abandoned coal mines. <\/span>Residents in these towns and cities concurrently grapp<\/a>le with skyrocketing energy bills. <\/span>Tapping mine water heat from beneath their feet could be a win-win for these communities.<\/span><\/p>\n And the technology<\/a> is already in operation. <\/span>Last year, one of the largest mine water heat networks in Europe opened in <\/span>Gateshead, a town just south of Newcastle.<\/span> Using warm water pumped up from the extensive network of old mine tunnels, the geothermal system supplies heat and hot water to hundreds of homes, offices, and a college in the town.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cWhat we have in Gateshead is a legacy from the days of the coal mines, which was dirty energy,\u201d said <\/span>John McElroy, cabinet member for the environment and transport at Gateshead Council in October.<\/span> \u201cNow we are leading the way in generating clean, green energy from those mines.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n TNW Conference 2024 – Calling all Startups to join on June 20-21<\/p>\n Showcase your startup in front of investors, change-makers and potential customers with our curated Startup packages.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n As many of Britain\u2019s coal mines became abandoned, the pumps that kept them dry were switched off and the mines filled up with water. While many of these mine shafts aren\u2019t particularly deep, the water contained in them is significantly hotter (around 40<\/span>\u00b0C) <\/span>than at the surface.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n While the water in the UK\u2019s mines is general<\/a>ly not hot enough to generate electricity (for this you need temperatures exceeding <\/span>160<\/span>\u00b0C<\/span>) it can nevertheless be pumped to the surface and used to heat homes. <\/span>Using old mine shafts to extract heat also means you don\u2019t have to drill new boreholes \u2014 the most expensive part of geothermal energy extraction.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The Gateshead scheme comes at a time of renewed excitement in geothermal energy in Britain. Leading the charge is the <\/span>\u00a331mn Geoenergy Observatories project, which is currently constructing two \u201cunderground observatories\u201d in Glasgow and Cheshire. These facilities will map out the subterranean world below, kind of like how we map out the night sky above.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n What they find could provide key solutions to the grand decarbonisation challenge. Buildings alone produced 20% of all emissions in the UK in 2021. But, according to the British Geological Survey <\/span>geothermal has the potential<\/span><\/a> to supply heat to every home in the country for 100 years.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Elsewhere in Europe, Berlin is exploring ways to utilise <\/span>excess heat from underground car parks<\/span> to <\/span>power homes, while Croatia has dis<\/span>covered a superheated lake buried 2.5km underground that it wants to turn into a 16MW geothermal power plant. That\u2019s enough energy to supply tens of thousands of homes. <\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n In Iceland, one of the world\u2019s pioneers in the technology, things are getting even more ambitious. As detailed in a recent <\/span>paper<\/span><\/a>, <\/span>the Krafla Magma Testbed (KMT) project will drill into a volcano\u2019s magma chamber, seeking to tap into its super-hot fumes to generate geothermal energy at a scale that has never been attempted before.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>\n <\/div>\n If you liked the article, do not forget to share it with your friends. Follow us on\u00a0Google News<\/a><\/span>\u00a0too, click on the star and choose us from your favorites.<\/span><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n For forums sites go to Forum.BuradaBiliyorum.Com<\/a><\/span><\/strong>\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n If you want to read more like this article, you can visit our Technology category.<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n
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