Scotland launches fund to better utilize geothermal
March 9, 2015 | By
Jaclyn Brandt
Scotland is undertaking numerous projects to utilize energy available within the country, and a commitment to geothermal energy is the latest in their sights. Fergus Ewing, Scotland's Minister for Energy, Enterprise and Tourism, is looking to explore Scotland's geothermal capacity, and has launched a fund for help meet the needs of local communities. The department is providing £250,000 for the project (or a little more than $375,000).
"Heat is estimated to account for over half of Scotland's total energy use with an estimated £2.6 billion [nearly $4 billion] a year spent on heating by householders and the non-domestic sector," Ewing explained. The energy department is looking for groups or companies who create projects that achieve carbon reductions that are sustainable and commercially viable -- as well as having a plan to benefit local communities. Their hope is to find projects that are viable in the long term, as well as being adaptable to future models. Scotland is looking to develop the projects after having completed two successful geothermal small-scale housing projects in Glenalmond Street, Shettleston, and Lumphinnans, Fife. Those communities use water from mines (that are no longer in use) to provide heat for their local residents. Fife has been experimenting with the best ways to utilize their geothermal capacity since May 2014, when they launched the Fife Geothermal Consortium. The Challenge Fund is being launched as a part of the country's Low Carbon Infrastructure Transition Program, which was created to help communities through different stages of development. "I have taken the advice of the Geothermal Energy Expert Group to build on the findings of the study undertaken in 2012-13 by supporting exploration of the significant potential for geothermal energy in naturally occurring groundwater and the water collecting in our abandoned mines," Ewing said. "Now is the time to take the experience of the housing projects in Shettleston and Fife and take the first steps towards the development of a delivery model which reduces carbon emissions, is self-sustaining and is economically viable." Scotland's energy department also recently announced a project to utilize wave power for energy -- Wave Energy Scotland -- which has a budget of £14.3 million [more than $21 million] to develop useable wave energy for the country. The department is looking for regulatory approval and funding from both the United Kingdom and European Union, but is hoping to move forward with research on using many different types of energy. The geothermal project is gaining support by others in Scotland, including Friends of the Earth Scotland. "Heating is our biggest source of climate emissions and geothermal energy can play a major part in replacing fossil-fuelled heating," said Dr. Richard Dixon, director of Friends of the Earth Scotland. "We already know that there is potential to deploy geothermal energy on a very wide scale in Scotland This new funding is very welcome and will help good proposals get moving and attract further investment. Different techniques will have different impacts but geothermal energy is clearly worth serious investigation, and it is great that the Scottish Government is taking the lead in making this happen." The maximum grant award available for each applicant's study is £50,000. The deadline for applications is April, 2015. For more: © 2015 FierceMarkets, a division of Questex Media Group LLC. All rights reserved. http://www.fierceenergy.com/story/scotland-launches-fund-better-utilize-geothermal/2015-03-09 |