It is uncertain how much the Highlands and Islands will benefit in perpetuity from the boom in renewable electricity production and storage. Half of our energy needs are not for electricity, but for heat. In this talk I suggest exploring our potential for shallow and deep geothermal heat production. The further you drill into the ground, the hotter it gets, and deep geothermal drilling (>1 km) is now in favour, including in Cornwall.
Shallower drilling is now being explored to heat the University of Leeds. Geothermal energy has been mooted elsewhere in Scotland but is hampered by a lack of geological data necessary to de-risk investment in drilling. Yet, such systems are low-carbon, quiet, require little land, are reliable regardless of weather or shocks to the national grid, and built to last 50 years or more. They should be owned and distributed locally to benefit communities.
Photo: post-Caledonian faulting in the Durness limestone at Sango Sands. The grubby stuff of geology – the brittle faults and fractures – are worth exploring in the hunt for viable locations for geothermal energy. Dr Bailey Lathrop for scale
I will discuss where geothermal heat comes from, how it is distributed, what rocks across the Highlands and Islands might be of interest, from granites to fault zones, and how heat may be extracted. This is research that is only just getting started, perhaps with potential for some of the larger communities around the NW Highlands. I want to show you our ideas and ask for your input, positive or negative, about whether geothermal systems might be added to our energy mix.
Bio: Iain Neill grew up in Dingwall. He is now a Lecturer at the University of Glasgow, having gained a BSc from St Andrews and a PhD from Cardiff University. His early research explored the origins of the Caribbean Plate and why there is magmatism across the South Caucasus and Iran. Having always kept tabs on Scottish geology, he is now leading a mission to re-evaluate the age and origins of granite bodies emplaced across the Highlands and Islands, with the eventual goal of putting these rocks to greater use in society.