Prominent green groups in Scotland have (inadvertently) called for fracking to take place north of the border as soon as possible.
Well, kind of.
In an article by Rob Edwards (who seems unable to write anything without quoting Friends of the Earth Scotland), we learn of a new study that examines the scope to use hot water from old mine workings to generate power.
As much as a third of the heat needed to keep Scotland warm could be provided by tapping geothermal energy from old coal mines across the central belt, a major new study for the Scottish government has concluded.
Warm water piped up from abandoned mine shafts between Glasgow and Edinburgh and in Ayrshire and Fife could help heat many thousands of homes and other buildings for decades, researchers say. They are urging ministers to embark upon an ambitious bid to make geothermal energy a major new source of clean, renewable power within a few years.
Apparently there are already some real-life pilot plants at work and environmental groups like Friends of the Earth (it's a Rob Edwards article after all) and WWF seem very keen:
Dr Sam Gardner, head of policy at WWF Scotland said it should be seriously examined and “taken forward in every suitable Scottish city and town.”
Dr Richard Dixon, director of Friends of the Earth Scotland, said: “It is a nice irony that some homes that used to be heated by coal are now being heated by water from old mine workings, and it would be great to see this idea deployed on a very wide scale.”
The sting in the tale is this bit though:
[The study] mentions that hydraulic fracturing – fracking – may be needed to help extract the heat.
Now there's a dilemma.
(Via Dart Energy's Twitter feed)