HEATING
The tortoise
and the hare: the race for geothermal
Both the US and UK governments recently announced initiatives that aim to help cut harmful carbon emissions and bring about a cleaner environment, as Bob Kane, head of sales and marketing at Kilfrost explains.
I
n the UK, the government has proposed a ‘reformed and refocused’ Renewable Heat Incentive scheme for householders wishing to move away from traditional forms of heating for their homes .
This follows a commitment in the recently published Clean Growth Strategy to spend £4.5bn to support innovative low carbon heat technologies in UK homes and businesses through to 2021.
Now, more than ever, it seems the door is open for homeowners and communities to explore the possibility of alternative energy sources in a bid to further cut carbon emissions. Many in industry, however, feel that the ambitions in the British government’s document will remain unmet due to a lack of detail around the practicalities.
For instance, if you search the Strategy for geothermal energy, you will fail to find a single reference and although there have been pockets of activity, history shows that UK geothermal energy development has been limited. Geothermal energy refers to the heat available below the earth’s surface, which can be harnessed to heat fluid running through a network of underground pipes and ultimately
50 October 2018
pumped into a building’s heating system. It can bring huge running cost savings as well as heating system efficiencies and obvious environmental benefits.
It’s not that projects aren’t taking place. In fact, earlier this year a scheme to explore the possibility of using water below ground in a disused Welsh mine in the Llynfi Valley was given the go ahead and backed by more than £9m in funding .
If it proves successful, the geothermal energy produced could heat 150 properties and the nearby school and church. In the future, there may be greater potential to warm up to a thousand local homes.
Although schemes like these should be applauded, especially if they can breathe new life into an area in need of regeneration, construction would not begin until 2020. Meanwhile, in America, the US Congress voted to extend a 30% federal tax credit for geothermal heat pump installations, bringing it closer in line with the cost of installing traditional heating and cooling, previously the number one barrier to adoption.
Innovations in affordable geothermal energy in America are being spearheaded by Dandelion,
a start-up company founded out of the Google- owned X lab, seeking to widen the market specifically for this type of renewable energy. They’re in good company, too. The US Department of Energy specifically funds geothermal research and development to help stimulate industry growth and encourage quick adoption.
It is therefore no surprise that the US leads the world for installed geothermal capacity, with more than 3.7 gigawatts and the largest geothermal plant in the world in California. If industry adoptions continues, alongside research and development success, it is predicated that geothermal could meet more than 10% of the country’s electricity demand .
The benefits of geothermal energy are clear and the positive impacts are already being experienced around the globe.
However, what is also clear is that some nations are ahead of the curve when it comes to understanding those benefits, promoting them and removing barriers to access.
Until geothermal is considered a mainstream renewable energy option, alongside wind and solar, widespread adoption will be slow to follow.
www.acr-news.com
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