Warm water piped up from abandoned mine shafts between Glasgow and Edinburgh and in Ayrshire and Fife could help heat many thousands of homes and other buildings for decades, researchers said. They are urging ministers to embark on an ambitious attempt to make geothermal energy a major new source of clean, renewable power within a few years.
The two-volume, 345-page study was conducted by the US energy firm Aecom and the British Geological Survey, and has been published by the Scottish Government. Geothermal energy from deep underground has "the potential to play a significant role in Scotland's future energy provision", it said.
The most promising source is the water that has flooded the hundreds of disused mine shafts that underlay large areas of the Central Belt. Heated by the warmth of the Earth, it averages 17C, with higher temperatures at deeper levels.
According to the study, the water can be pumped to the surface and, in combination with modern heat exchange technology, used to supply central heating and hot water to buildings. It estimates that water from Scotland's 600 cubic kilometers of old mine workings could provide a "maximum accessible heat resource" of 12 gigawatts.
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