United Kingdom: Geothermal Heat from Old Coal Mines Could Warm Scottish Cities

John Underhill: Coal mines have an eco-friendly future (The Scotsman)

To date, the focus on geothermal energy in the UK has concentrated on areas like the granites of the Cairngorms and Cornwall because they have a higher geo-thermal gradient. While it’s evident these areas can provide heat locally, industrial-scale supply to the people that need it most is impractical because of the difficulty of storage and transportation to centres of population.

But a different kind of geothermal heat source could provide an answer: renewable energy from the most unlikely of sources. A major benefit of coalfields is that most are close to and often directly beneath large conurbations. Although they are not going to be as productive as areas marked by volcanic activity, like Iceland or Hawaii, they could provide enough heat to serve the needs of the stressed communities where fuel poverty hits hardest.

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