Hot rocks to help polar caps?

Mar 14 2008 by Karen Wilson, The Journal

USING alternative renewable energy sources could help solve the problem of melting polar ice caps and other environmental dilemmas of the 21st Century.

Work by scientists from Newcastle University has shown that sources of geothermal energy or hot rocks in the geology of Newcastle and the North East could provide sustainable energy options. If this clean power is harnessed, then it could lead to a reduction in the release of harmful gases to the atmosphere and therefore contribute to fighting global warming.

The team from the university, working with specialist engineering consultants PB Power, drilled the UK’s first geothermal exploration borehole in 20 years at the proposed site of the Eastgate Renewable Energy Village in Weardale, County Durham. The exploratory borehole was drilled in December 2004 to a depth of 995 metres, cutting more than 720 metres of the Weardale Granite – one of the ‘radiothermal granites’ of the UK – which is nowhere exposed at the surface and which previously had only been entered by one other borehole.

The Weardale drilling confirmed the presence of high rates of heat production and, crucially, very high natural rates of flow of hot water.

Further testing and work since then has supported the viability of using geothermal energy in the future, both here and on other sites in the region and elsewhere. Most intriguingly, the possible existence of naturally hot water at depth below central Newcastle is now under investigation.

For the proposed Renewable Energy Village, access to this underground energy source could mean becoming one of only two geothermally heated spas in the UK, with the water flow and temperature from the borehole indicating that public bathing could be a likely possibility for the scheme.

Pumping trials have shown that the water is present in sufficient quantity to provide a heatsource for other developments on the site, providing a sustainable alternative energy for heating needs.

Leading the work is Professor Paul Younger, professor of the Sir Joseph Swan Institute for energy research at Newcastle University. He is also the theme leader for Newcastle Science City’s Energy and Environment theme; one of four areas of scientific expertise developing links between industry and research.

Professor Younger and his team are based at the Devonshire Building in Newcastle – itself a superb example of sustainability and environmental excellence. The award-winning building features photovoltaic panels that generate 30kW of power and a climate responsive facade system that optimises the levels of daylight and solar penetration according to the time of day and season.

Rainwater is harvested from the roof and used for flushing toilets. Waste heat from the laboratories is reused on site and even the building’s pipework is made from 100% recycled materials, replacing the need for traditional copper and steel alternatives.

Practising what is preached, it is technologies like this, and research like that being conducted in Weardale, that will help Newcastle Science City drive sustainable economic activity in the future and aid the shift for Newcastle from the birthplace of carboniferous capitalism to a leader in the global low-carbon economy of the future.