{"id":6355,"date":"2025-10-28T07:48:33","date_gmt":"2025-10-28T07:48:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bgs.ac.uk\/groundwater\/?page_id=6355"},"modified":"2026-03-31T11:59:11","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T10:59:11","slug":"energy","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.bgs.ac.uk\/groundwater\/energy\/","title":{"rendered":"Energy"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t\t<section class=\"hero-section hero-section-with-social\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"hero-info-wrap\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"row\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"col-12\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"hero-info\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<h1>Energy<\/h1>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>Groundwater and energy<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<div class=\"social-wrap social-wrap-inline-them\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"sea-background-f\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<span>Share this article<\/span><a target=\"_blank\"  href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer\/sharer.php?u=https:\/\/www.bgs.ac.uk\/groundwater\/energy\/\"><span class=\"icon-facebook\"><span class=\"hidden\">Facebook<\/span><\/span><\/a><a target=\"_blank\"  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=Energy&#038;url=https:\/\/www.bgs.ac.uk\/groundwater\/energy\/\"><span class=\"icon-twitter\"><span class=\"hidden\">Twitter<\/span><\/span><\/a><a   onclick=\"javascript:void( (function() {var e=document.createElement('script' );e.setAttribute('type','text\/javascript' );e.setAttribute('charset','UTF-8' );e.setAttribute('src','\/\/assets.pinterest.com\/js\/pinmarklet.js?r='+Math.random()*99999999);document.body.appendChild(e)})());\"  href=\"javascript:void(0);\"><span class=\"icon-pinterest\"><span class=\"hidden\">Pinterest<\/span><\/span><\/a><a target=\"_blank\"  href=\"https:\/\/wa.me?text=https:\/\/www.bgs.ac.uk\/groundwater\/energy\/\"><span class=\"icon-whatsapp\"><span class=\"hidden\">WhatsApp<\/span><\/span><\/a><a   href=\"mailto:?subject=Energy&#038;body=How%20groundwater%20can%20be%20used%20for%20geothermal%20energy%20and%20the%20effects%20of%20hydrocarbon%20exploitation%20on%20groundwater.%20(https:\/\/www.bgs.ac.uk\/groundwater\/energy\/)\"><span class=\"icon-mail\"><span class=\"hidden\">Email<\/span><\/span><\/a><a href=\"#\" data-copy=\"https:\/\/www.bgs.ac.uk\/groundwater\/energy\/\" class=\"copy-url-on-click\"><span class=\"icon-link\"><span class=\"hidden\">Copy Link<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div><\/div>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\n\n\n<section class=\"wp-block-bgs-blocks-content-container content-section\"><div class=\"container\"><div class=\"row\"><div class=\"col-12\">\n<p>Hydrogeology and groundwater play a significant role in the energy sector and the transition towards net zero energy.&nbsp; At BGS we have experience in exploring how groundwater and aquifers can be used to facilitate energy production and storage; and also how to safeguard groundwater from degradation from the energy sector.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Geothermal energy often relies on the aquifer properties of rocks to transmit and sustain heat flow. [link to geothermal teams pages &#8211; unsure which is their main page]<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ukgeos.ac.uk\/\">Recent research<\/a>\u00a0has focused on how water from closed coal mines can be used for heating and cooling.\u00a0 BGS has considerable expertise in monitoring and modelling mine heat along with a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ukgeos.ac.uk\/glasgow-observatory\">dedicated research facility in Glasgow<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The potential for shale gas exploitation in the UK was explored in the last decade before finally being ruled out.\u00a0 BGS undertook several years of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bgs.ac.uk\/groundwater\/energy\/shale-gas-and-groundwater\/\">monitoring and research to explore the risks to groundwater from shale gas<\/a>\u00a0exploitation\u00a0<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Waste from the nuclear industry must be stored for many thousands of years.\u00a0 Potential groundwater flowpaths are ley to assessing the long term safety of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bgs.ac.uk\/geology-projects\/radioactive-waste\/\">nuclear waste disposal<\/a>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Mining for critical minerals often involves groundwater.\u00a0 For example lithium can be extracted from groundwater and salars.\u00a0 Good practice in mining also often involves strategies for monitoring and safeguarding local groundwater<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Storage of hydrogen and long term sequestration of CO2, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bgs.ac.uk\/geology-projects\/carbon-capture-and-storage\/\">Carbon Capture and Storage<\/a> (CCS) can often occur in deep aquifers, where the gases interacts with the often saline groundwater.\u00a0 BGS has considerable expertise in the CCS developed over decades working with partners.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Developing onshore windfarms and transmission lines often involve disturbing peatlands, a unique hydrogeological environment. BGS maps peat extents and also carried out research on how water flows through environments mantled by peat.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/section>\n\n\n\t\t<section id=\"in-this-section-8125-block_43d05cd1f263731b2c4539430a2786a3\" class=\"grid-section  basic-background-1   \" >\n\t\t\t<div class=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"row grid-wrap\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"col-md-6 col-lg-4\">\n\t<div class=\"cards-over-img cards  cards-find-more \">\n\t\t<a class=\"media-wrap\" href=\"https:\/\/www.bgs.ac.uk\/groundwater\/energy\/shale-gas-and-groundwater\/\">\n\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.bgs.ac.uk\/groundwater\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2025\/08\/P917040-thumb.jpg\" class=\"lazy-blur wp-post-image\" alt=\"A borehole drilling machine in a muddy field\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.bgs.ac.uk\/groundwater\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2025\/08\/P917040-thumb.jpg\" \/>\t<\/a>\n\t\t<div class=\"info-wrap\">\n\t\t<div class=\"info\">\n\t\t\t<h2><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bgs.ac.uk\/groundwater\/energy\/shale-gas-and-groundwater\/\">Shale gas<\/a><\/h2>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>BGS research to understand the effects on groundwater from shale gas exploitation.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.bgs.ac.uk\/groundwater\/energy\/shale-gas-and-groundwater\/\"><\/a>\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\n\n<section class=\"cta-section  sea-background-e \">\n\t<div class=\"container\">\n\t\t<div class=\"row md-row\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"col-12\">\n\t\t\t\t<h2>Need more information?<\/h2>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"btn-wrap\"><a href=\"mailto:enquiries@bgs.ac.uk\"  class=\"button primary-background   \">Contact BGS Enquiries<\/a><\/div>\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/section>\n\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>How groundwater can be used for geothermal energy and the effects of hydrocarbon exploitation on groundwater.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":6684,"parent":0,"menu_order":5,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"1","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","footnotes":""},"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6355","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.2 - 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