Online talk: Mine Water Geothermal Resource Atlas for Scotland (MiRAS)

Online talk by Dr David Walls (TownRock Energy, Senior Geothermal Geologist) about his PhD research.

Mine water geothermal (MWG) energy describes the low-carbon practice of using water held in abandoned flooded mines to heat or cool surface thermal demands. The low temperatures (as low as 10°C) require heat pump technology to upgrade thermal energy to usable temperatures for heating homes or industrial applications. The intention of the Mine Water Geothermal Resource Atlas for Scotland (MiRAS) is to highlight the most promising areas to exploit MWG energy in Scotland. If the scale of the nation's mine water thermal resource, estimated at 12 GW, becomes better communicated we envisage that the atlas will prove influential for increasing the rate and success of MWG deployment. Ideally, the provision of feasible MWG sites will influence stakeholder decisions i.e., where to invest and develop land to make the best use of the low-carbon resource, resulting in MWG potential included as part of a standard appraisal for a residential or industrial development plan. Whilst it is acknowledged that focused expert input would be required to integrate surface heat demand and subsurface resources in detail, the SMGM provides non-experts and decision makers with a first-pass high-level summary of the potential MWG resource located within their area of interest. The four criteria for site selection are summarised below:

There are more than one (overlapping) worked coal seams.
The coal seams are deeper than 30 m to minimise subsidence risk.
The mine water head (i.e., mine "water table") is not excessively deep (less than 60 m below ground level) to avoid excessive pumping costs.
The mines are shallower than 250 m below ground level to minimise drilling costs.

As a result, this atlas has identified a total of 370.3 km2 across 19 local authority areas which are most suitable for MWG development. The MiRAS can be downloaded as a WMTS for GIS application here. Or viewed on the Improvement Services Spatial Hub Online viewer by selecting the correct layer.

Speaker Bio: After obtaining a first class honours degree in Earth Science from University of Glasgow in 2017, David joined TownRock Energy as a geothermal geologist. Since then, David has undertaken a PhD researcher role at the University of Strathclyde, specialising in mine water geothermal energy in Scotland, identifying and quantifying mine water resources across the country. Between his research and continued collaboration with TownRock Energy, David has gained rare experience in geothermal project planning and execution, resource characterisation, risk mitigation and maintenance.

https://www.spatialdata.gov.scot/geon...