United Kingdom:

Geothermal Power Could Slash Glasgow Heating Bills by 75 Per Cent (Business Reporter)

Glasgow residents could save up to three quarters of their heating bills if a plan to heat homes using geothermal power goes ahead.

Up to 40 per cent of Glasgow households could use water recycled from abandoned mines beneath the city. The water is heated up using thermal pumps and flushed round building radiators.

Seventeen flats in Glenalmond Street, in the east end of Glasgow, have been using thermal power for the past 10 years, cutting heating bills from around £800 for a three-bedroom flat to just £180 a year.

A “demonstrator” project for the next generation of thermal pumps is planned for the Clyde Gateway in eastern Glasgow, while another one is set for Shawfair in Midlothian, in 2016.

An estimated 600,000 cubic kilometres of water is trapped beneath Glasgow. Thermal pumps draw up tepid water and run it through heat exchangers, heating the water up to around 50°C, which is then sent around radiators. The water is eventually sent back down underground, having cooled off first.

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