Geothermal group receives funding for heat flow mapping in Cornwall

Cornish Valleys, Cornwall, UK (source: flickr/ Jack Pease, creative commons)

Deep Digital Cornwall (DDC) has received funding from the European Regional Development Fund to create a new digital heat flow map in Cornwall, UK. The objective of this study is to model the heat flow in the region’s shallower geothermal resources to promote its utilization in low carbon heating.

DDC, launched in 2021, is led by the Camborne School of Mines (CSM) and the Institute for Data Science and Artificial Intelligence at the University of Exeter. Through research and technical expertise, DDC supports SMEs in Cornwall and the Isles of Sicily.

The heat flow mapping project of DDC will build upon data gathered from the drilling of 23 shallow boreholes in Cornwall back in the 1970s. This data had been re-evaluated in 2016 by Bearnish and Busby to create an early heat flow map that more robustly represents the subsurface temperature distribution.

To generate more comprehensive data, DDC aims for a more even distribution of data points across the county. This will involve the drilling of new boreholes, particularly in the vicinity of towns and other industrial areas where there may be high demand for heating. Subsurface temperature data can then be combined with the digital model of Cornwall geology to create a 3D subsurface digital model.

Source: GeoScience Limited