Legacy BGS geothermal models: theoretical potential 'heat-in-place' for the early Carboniferous limestone (hot sedimentary aquifer resources) in northern and southern England
This raster dataset shows the modelled P50 distribution of the theoretical potential 'heat-in-place' (HIP) across the northern and southern early Carboniferous limestone in Great Britain (PJ/km2), at a resolution of 2500 m x 2500 m. The HIP is calculated for resource temperatures greater than 50°C, which represents the minimum temperature required for direct use of heat from hot sedimentary aquifer resources. The HIP characterises the heat resource available in an aquifer according to the USGS definition described in e.g. Muffler and Cataldi (1978). Its calculation is part of the research published by D J.R. Jones, T. Randles, T. Kearsey, T.C. Pharaoh, A. Newell (2023). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geothermics.2023.102649. Areas of high uncertainty are delineated in the published paper.
dataset
protocol: WWW:LINK-1.0-http--link
name: UK Geothermal Platform Web Map
description: An interactive Web map for exploring geothermal energy potential, assessing constraints, and making informed exploration decisions.
function: information
https://ukgeothermalplatform.org
protocol: WWW:LINK-1.0-http--link
name: UK Geothermal Platform
description: An online platform for exploring geothermal energy potential, assessing constraints, and making informed exploration decisions.
function: information
http://data.bgs.ac.uk/id/dataHolding/13608361
eng
geoscientificInformation
publication
2008-06-01
UK Location (INSPIRE)
Aquifers
Geothermal maps
Geothermal energy
Limestone
Carboniferous
revision
2022
NERC_DDC
-3.0764
1.1171
54.0358
50.7670
creation
1979
NORTHERN ENGLAND [id=151000]
creation
1979
SOUTHERN ENGLAND [id=158800]
2022
2025
publication
2023
notPlanned
The study was conducted to assess the theoretical potential of the geothermal resource from the early Carboniferous limestone (ECL) in Great Britain. The theoretical potential 'heat-in-place' was calculated using the 3DHIP tool (Piris et al., 2021), which is based on the USGS volumetric 'heat-in-place' method developed by Muffler and Cataldi (1978). The method uses a Monte Carlo simulation to calculate the P50 probability distribution function for the HIP using the P50 distribution of reservoir volume and rock density derived from the 3D geological models of the ECL lithofacies for each study area, gridded at an XYZ spatial resolution of 2500 × 2500 × 50 m, and the temperature distribution. The model assumes a triangular porosity distribution, a constant fluid density (1040 kg/m3), fluid specific heat capacity (3.8 kJ/kg°C), and rock specific heat capacity (0.86 kJ/kg°C) and a reference/reinjection temperature of 21°C. Geothermal gradient and mean surface temperature were defined as constants for each model. An upper depth cut-off of 1000 m and 1200 m was applied to northern and southern models respectively, which corresponds to a reservoir temperature of 50°C and is judged to be the minimum temperature required for direct-use applications of geothermal energy. The heat-in-place is highly sensitive to the thickness, which is influenced by the depth to the top (well constrained by seismic interpretation and well picks) and base (less/no well coverage and poor constrained in some areas) of the base Carboniferous.
publication
2011
false
See the referenced specification
publication
2010-12-08
false
See http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=OJ:L:2010:323:0011:0102:EN:PDF
The copyright of materials derived from the British Geological Survey's work is vested in the Natural Environment Research Council [NERC]. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, or stored in a retrieval system of any nature, without the prior permission of the copyright holder, via the BGS Intellectual Property Rights Manager. Use by customers of information provided by the BGS, is at the customer's own risk. In view of the disparate sources of information at BGS's disposal, including such material donated to BGS, that BGS accepts in good faith as being accurate, the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) gives no warranty, expressed or implied, as to the quality or accuracy of the information supplied, or to the information's suitability for any use. NERC/BGS accepts no liability whatever in respect of loss, damage, injury or other occurence however caused.
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EDINBURGH
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0115 936 3142
0115 936 3276
distributor
British Geological Survey
The Lyell Centre, Research Avenue South
EDINBURGH
EH14 4AP
United Kingdom
0115 936 3142
0115 936 3276
pointOfContact
British Geological Survey
The Lyell Centre, Research Avenue South
EDINBURGH
EH14 4AP
United Kingdom
+44 131 667 1000
pointOfContact
2025-03-24