Geothermal energy has considerable potential to contribute to decarbonising energy, particularly heating and cooling. Currently it accounts for <5% of renewable energy across the UK. The distribution of potential deep geothermal resources relies on understanding the subsurface geology.

Newcastle University has drilled three deep boreholes for geothermal exploration, two (1km, 0.4km, both into granite) in Weardale and one (2km) in city-centre Newcastle. This has been done in partnership with other universities and local government, which leads national strategic planning for geothermal energy for space heating.

Currently Newcastle University currently leads two research projects:

NetZero GeoRDIE - research to model and develop single well geothermal systems as an integrated part of a whole energy systems.

Geothermal Resource Assessment of the North East –using existing geological and geophysical to describe the distribution of geothermal resources across the NE