Underground Energy is the Future With Ground Source Heat Pumps – Energy News
A new report says ground source heat pumps could be installed in 320,000 British homes in the next decade.
This would provide households with heat and hot water from underground.
This renewable technology stores energy under homes until it is ready to be used, providing a greener way to heat and light buildings, according to a study by the Environment Agency (EA).
The pumps could power more than one million British properties and provide a third of all home energy. If the pumps are successful they could power more than one million British properties and provide one-third of all home energy.
Ground source heat pumps are already on the rise, doubled from last year at 4,000 to 8,000 this year. The majority of these are large enough to provide a household with all its heat and water.
“Ground source heating is a rapidly growing technology that has the potential to produce at least 30 per cent of the country’s renewable heat needs, bit it needs financial support in order to grow,” according to Tony Grayling, head of climate change and sustainable development at the Environment Agency.
The EA believes that between 11 and 40 per cent of commercial buildings, such as shop and offices, could be fueled by ground source heat pumps, in addition to residential properties.
The pumps are not completely carbon neutral because they require electricity to work, however they do create between three to four times the amount of energy that they consume, making them energy efficient and possibly a method of reducing bills. They also double as coolers in high temperatures.
Brian charlton, business manager for IT fur sustainability at Siemens, suggested that calculating energy use was especially difficult for businesses. He added that methods controlling energy consumption and driving down costs – which could include the use of ground source heat pumps – would be welcome.