The open loop ground source heat pump screening tool for England and Wales

The UK Government expects that by 2020, 12% of the UK’s heat demand will come from renewable sources. Ground source heat pumps (GSHP) provide an energy-efficient and low-carbon alternative to traditional heating and cooling technologies. They use the subsurface as a natural heat source/sink to provide space heating/cooling while cutting down on heating costs and CO2 emissions. Open loop GSHP systems abstract groundwater, pass it through a heat exchanger and then reinject the water back into the ground or discharge it at the surface. The British Geological Survey and the Environment Agency have developed a web-based screening tool that indicates where conditions may be suitable for installing commercial scale (>100 kW heating/cooling demand) open loop GSHP systems. The tool considers both hydrogeological and economic constraints.