Prof Loveridge works across industry and academia in Europe and will present on the capacity for low carbon heat from infrastructure. Space heating alone accounts for 40% of energy use and 20% of CO2 emissions in the UK. Tackling heating and building cooling demands is critical to the UK achieving its net zero ambitions. The most energy efficient way to decarbonise heating and cooling is through ground source heat pumps (GSHP) and district technology. However, capital costs are often high. The innovative use of buried infrastructure as sources and stores of thermal energy is proposed to reduce investment costs. Yet, there remain barriers to this technology including a lack of knowledge about the actual net amount of recoverable energy and impacts on the primary function of any buried infrastructure. This technique also requires new investment and governance strategies integrated across the energy and infrastructure sectors. Dr Loveridge will share with us an assessment of the scale of the opportunity for thermal energy recovery and storage linked to new and existing buried infrastructure in the UK, along with strategic measures to help reduce barriers and start on the journey to achieving the energy potential of buried infrastructure.

Mr Chendorain is Associate Director at Arup and Global Lead for Geothermal and Groundwater Engineering. He will discuss his GSHP experience in the UK, North America, and other places around the world. Drawbacks, benefits, and profitability will be debated.