Geothermal could transform the UK energy industry
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By utilizing its existing oil and gas expertise, the UK can harness more of its geothermal resources to meet its heat demand and transform its energy sector.
Editor’s Note: This piece is a guest article written by Dr Charlotte Adams, CEO of the National Geothermal Centre.
Professor Jon Gluyas has highlighted the opportunity for geothermal energy to reduce the UK’s dependence on gas for heating during a debate on the UK’s Channel 4 News about the future of domestic oil and gas production.
Jon, National Geothermal Centre (NGC) Board Member and Emeritus Professor of Geoenergy, Carbon Capture and Storage at Durham University, brought an important distinction to the debate: oil and gas should not necessarily be considered as a single issue when discussing the UK’s future energy needs.
While oil and gas will continue to have roles during the energy transition, the UK also needs to consider where those fuels come from, how they are used and where domestic low-carbon alternatives can replace them. This is particularly important for natural gas. Around 70% of UK households currently use gas for heating, creating both a significant decarbonisation challenge and continued exposure to international gas markets.
Importing liquefied natural gas (LNG) is not equivalent to using domestically produced or pipeline gas from a carbon perspective. LNG production requires gas to be cooled to extremely low temperatures for transportation and subsequently regasified, adding to the emissions associated with its supply.
Rather than simply replacing declining domestic gas production with increasingly carbon-intensive imports, Professor Gluyas argued that the UK should also focus on reducing the amount of gas it needs. Geothermal energy, heat extracted from deep inside the Earth, provides an opportunity to do exactly that.
Leveraging the UK’s oil and gas expertise
Jon pointed to the UK’s existing oil and gas expertise, particularly in areas such as Aberdeen in North East Scotland, as an enormous asset that could be redeployed to develop geothermal energy by stating the UK can “drill for heat rather than for petroleum beneath our own feet.” The same subsurface knowledge, drilling capabilities, engineering expertise and supply chains developed through decades of North Sea activity can increasingly be applied to accessing the abundant heat resource beneath the UK.
For the NGC, this is a critical part of the energy transition. It is not simply about deciding which existing sources of energy should stop. It is also about identifying practical alternatives and giving industries, workers and communities a route into the energy system of the future.
Developing geothermal energy at scale could reduce demand for natural gas, decrease exposure to imported LNG, improve energy security and provide a long-term future for many of the skills developed by the UK’s oil and gas industry. Rather than importing more of the energy needed to heat our homes and businesses, we have an opportunity to develop a secure, low-carbon source of heat that is already beneath our feet.
The sector is increasingly ready to take advantage of this geothermal potential and the prize is significant – a recent British Geological Survey estimates the UK’s geothermal resources could meet heat demand for a century.
At the NGC we have been working collaboratively with stakeholders across the ecosystem, including the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero and its chief scientific advisor, utility companies, universities, regulators, developers, investors, technology suppliers and trade associations.
With that collective expertise, we are developing a roadmap that outlines the pathways the UK must take to make geothermal a consistent part of our low-carbon energy mix. That includes advocating for change where required, improving investor confidence and creating frameworks that allow private capital to flow.
Watch the discussion on Channel 4 here: https://www.channel4.com/news/debate-should-the-uk-extract-more-oil-and-gas
RELATED: The National Geothermal Centre: A unified voice for the UK geothermal sector
About Dr Charlotte Adams
Dr Charlotte Adams has a diverse career spanning consultancy, academia and the public sector, with expertise in commercial contracts, R&D and geothermal drilling programmes. She became the UK National Geothermal Centre’s first CEO in 2024. Prior to this, she spent four and a half years at the Coal Authority, latterly as Principal Manager for Mine Water Heat, championing the use of geothermal heat from abandoned coal mines to warm homes and businesses.
Trained as a hydrogeologist specialising in minewater treatment, Charlotte spent 11 years at Durham University and almost five years at the University of Newcastle. She has also worked as an energy consultant. Her work has been featured on Countryfile, The One Show, ITV Tonight, and Channel 4 News. She has received awards from the Geological Society and The Energy Institute for her contributions to geothermal energy.