Could Groundwater Heat Pumps Catch On?

If you’re looking for ways to reduce your environmental impact and improve the efficiency of your heating systems, you may be looking at commercial heat pump installations for your business.

But Cooling Post recently revealed that a new survey has found that groundwater heat pumps could also be a viable option in the UK.

The news provider cited research conducted by the British Geological Survey (BGS), which has spent three years exploring the concept of groundwater heat pumps and where they might work in the country.

It found that underground water systems in the UK have large heat resources and could be tapped into via “shallow open-loop ground-source heat pump systems,” the publication explained.

David Boon, research lead at the BGS, commented: “Our findings prove that groundwater-source heat pumps are a technically viable, low-carbon heating solution in many towns and cities across the UK, providing the geology beneath the surface is favourable.”

He suggested that these groundwater-source heat pumps could be used “in tandem with vertical, closed-loop ground-source heat pumps and air-source heat pumps” to help decarbonise heating in businesses and homes around the country.

The BGS now wants to conduct more research to better understand how this technology could be scaled up to help more locations in the UK. Its three year project focused on a pilot scheme in Cardiff, where a ground-water heat pump is being used to heat a school.

Last month, the BBC highlighted a report from the cross-party think tank Policy Connect, which stressed that gas central heating boilers are one of the factors that will prevent the UK meeting its clean air goals.

The organisation stated that needs to be greater innovation for future heating systems to help reduce the emissions that come from our homes.