TownRock had the pleasure of taking part in the live-streamed discussion panel ‘Green Heat: a tracking transition event’ this March in Glasgow. The event was organised by Energy Voice, a leading energy news platform, and Scottish Enterprise, and brought together a panel of experts to discuss the fast-growing renewable heat market in Scotland.
Our CEO David Townsend shared his insights alongside Jonathan Prescott from Mitsubishi Electric, Paul Steen from Vattenfall, Andrew Middleton from British Gas, Jan Reid from Scottish Enterprise and Catherine Williams from the Scottish Government. In the context of the ongoing energy crisis, the event had recurring themes of collaboration, reducing fuel poverty and creating resilient and sustainable heating for Scotland. The rising popularity of heat pumps, the potential of geothermal energy, the role of policy makers and much more were explored to form a picture of Scotland’s green heat today and for the future. Jonathan Prescott summarises the panel well:
“We, in Scotland, should be very proud of what we have achieved in this space… and we have the opportunity to be the beacon in the UK and Europe. Yes, it will be challenging, but it is an inspiring place to be right here, right now”
The full discussion is available to watch online here:
David was also interviewed by Energy Voice in preparation for the event, to discuss in more detail the role geothermal energy can play in the energy transition. The article highlights the various types of geothermal resources that can be accessed to provide green heat, from deep granites to Hot Sedimentary Aquifers (HSA) and the nascent mine water energy sector. TownRock being an industry leader in the latter, David explained the immense potential of mine water energy, which harnesses the heat within old mine systems to provide sustainable heating and could revitalise mining communities, an opportunity also highlighted in the keynote from Jan Reid of Scottish Enterprise. Mine water energy could theoretically meet 8% of Scotland’s domestic heating demand, and up to 40% of Glasgow’s heat demand! Much more is available if seasonal or other waste heat is re-injected back into the mine workings.
David also touched on another important aspect of the energy transition, policy and regulations, in the context of the new National Geothermal Innovation Centre being established by the Net Zero Technology Centre in Aberdeen:
“That will hopefully be the first instance of helping both the Scottish and UK Governments improve the policy and regulatory framework to allow more private funding into the sector, develop specific projects and longer-term technologies that will bring the risk of development down so that these become replicable, scalable and commercially viable projects that private funders will invest in”
Read the full article here:
We’re always looking for opportunities to promote green heat and share our insights, and are very thankful for Energy Voice spotlighting our work!