Cornish dairy company considering use of geothermal heat

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

The iconic Cornish dairy company Rodda’s is working with mineral exploration company Cornish Lithium to evaluate sites on its land that are suitable for producing both geothermal heat and geothermal lithium. If the project pans out, Rodda’s will be able to use geothermal heat to potentially decarbonize their existing production processes.

Rodda’s is based in the town of Scorrier in Cornwall, UK and is considered the world’s largest producer of clotted cream.

“As the UK moves towards a greener economy, there is an increasing need to explore alternative and more sustainable energy alternatives.” said Rodda’s Managing Director Nicholas Rodda.

“We feel this exploration project could provide valuable information around using geothermal waters as a source of heat energy. Rodda’s utilises heat in its production processes, which is currently generated using natural gas. By creating a renewable geothermal heat source for Rodda’s, there is a significant opportunity to make our production processes even more environmentally friendly.” added Rodda.

“We are extremely excited to be working with such an iconic Cornish company and look forward to progressing the relationship between Cornish Lithium and Rodda’s.” commented Cornish Lithium CEO Jeremy Wrathall.

Cornish Lithium will be responsible for the evaluation of geothermal prospects, as well as the design and drilling of a small research borehole. The borehole will then be used to asses the viability of putting up a commercial-scale geothermal lithium and heat project on the site.

“A successful geothermal lithium and heat project in Cornwall will demonstrate the potential for creating a truly sustainable source of lithium to support the UK’s growing battery industry whilst at the same time helping to decarbonise local businesses and provide them with a more sustainable future energy source.” said Wrathall.

Earlier this year, Cornish Lithium was able to successfully complete the commissioning of their Direct Lithium Extraction (DLE) pilot plant in the United Downs Deep Geothermal site in Cornwall, UK. The pilot plant is expected to provide sufficient information to help in designing a commercial-scale lithium plant. It will also be used as a facility for testing different DLE technologies.

Source: Business Cornwall