Padraig Hanley, a geothermal contractor, told the Geothermal Association’s of Ireland’s annual conference that tests in the Newcastle area showed 10,000 homes could benefit from heat from deep underground, the Irish Times reported.
Mr Hanley said that tests showed that extracting heat from 4,000 to 5,000 metres below ground could provide 15 percent of Dublin’s heat and hot water needs through a district heating system.
He called on Government to “to expedite the legislation that is urgently needed to enable us to proceed to the next stage and the development of a geothermal plant. The sooner the legislation is in place, the sooner we can begin to roll out this cheaper, constant renewable source of energy to consumers.”
Energy minister Eamon Ryan welcomed the test results and said the technology could help reduce the country’s reliance on fossil fuels.
Speaking at the Plan Expo in Dublin, Mr Ryan said the renewable sector could help Ireland out of the recession and reduce its use of fossil fuels.