来源：《新科学家》
原文见刊日期：2022年10月29日
Never mind the gas crisis – beneath the UK lies enough free heat to keep the country warm not just this winter, but every winter for decades to come.
不用担心天然气危机——在英国地下有足够的免费热量，不仅在今年冬天，而且在未来几十年的每个冬天都能保持这个国家的温暖。
That is according to UK members of parliament on the Environmental Audit Committee (EAC), claiming that there is enough geothermal energy in the UK to meet the country’s annual heating demand for at least a century. “The evidence received by the Committee was clear and consistent: the UK has significant geothermal resources which can contribute to both the UK’s energy security and its transition to net zero,” wrote EAC chair Philip Dunne.
这是根据英国议会环境审计委员会(EAC)成员的说法，他们声称，英国有足够的地热能，可以满足英国至少一个世纪的供暖需求。EAC主席菲利普·邓恩写道：“委员会收到的证据是明确而一致的：英国拥有大量的地热资源，可以为英国的能源安全和向净零碳排放过渡做出贡献。”
Given such huge resources, the EAC argues that the government should be doing much more to bring geothermal projects to fruition – particularly in the face of spiralling gas prices. But can the UK really ditch gas boilers completely and heat all its homes with warmth from underground?
鉴于如此巨大的资源，EAC认为，政府应该做更多的工作来实现地热项目——尤其是面对不断上涨的天然气价格。但英国真的能彻底抛弃燃气锅炉，从地下为所有家庭供暖吗？
Geothermal energy, which involves extracting the heat from Earth and using it for heating and electricity, currently delivers less than 0.3 per cent of the UK’s annual heat demand.
地热能就是从地球内部提取热量，并将其用于供暖和发电，目前仅能满足英国每年不到0.3%的供暖需求。
Geologists agree there is great potential to scale the contribution up. But figuring out exactly how much of the UK could run on geothermal energy is less straightforward.
地质学家认为，扩大地热能贡献的潜力很大。但要计算出英国究竟有多少地方可以利用地热能就不那么简单了。
The most comprehensive study to date on the UK’s geothermal resources is more than 40 years old. The paper concluded that there is at least 200 years’ worth of heating and hot water in basins around the UK. Later studies have made slightly more conservative estimates. A 2017 paper by Jon Gluyas at Durham University, UK, suggests that geothermal energy resources in the UK are sufficient to deliver about 100 years of heat supply for the entire country.
迄今为止，对英国地热资源最全面的研究已有40多年的历史。论文得出的结论是，英国各地的盆地至少有够使用200年的供暖和热水。后来的研究做出了稍微保守的估计。英国杜伦大学的乔恩·格卢亚斯2017年发表的一篇论文表明，英国的地热能资源足以为整个国家提供大约100年的热量供应。
So the EAC is in the right ball park when it talks about the potential heat under the feet of those in the UK. But translating that potential into warm homes over winter isn’t so simple, says Gluyas. “The next question is could you get at it and could you supply it to where people live and work,” he says. “That’s when it gets a little more difficult.”
因此，当EAC说英国人脚下的潜在热量时，它是正确的。但格卢亚斯说，将这种潜力转化为冬天温暖的家庭不是那么简单。他说：“下一个问题是，你能查明地热在哪里吗？你能把它供应到人们生活和工作的地方吗？这时就有点困难了。”
Geologists know very little about the deep geology of the UK, particularly when it comes to predicting temperature and water flow, essential details for scoping out potential geothermal projects. This means there is huge uncertainty around the amount of heat available from the UK’s deep geothermal resources. In many cases, developers need to drill new boreholes to test the geothermal potential of a site, a very expensive process, particularly when there is no gold rush of oil waiting at the bottom of the well.
地质学家对英国的深层地质知之甚少，特别是在预测温度和水流方面，这是寻找潜在地热项目的重要细节。这意味着英国深层地热资源能提供多少热量存在巨大的不确定性。在许多情况下，开发商需要钻新的钻孔来测试一个地点的地热潜力，这是一个非常昂贵的过程，尤其是在井底没有太多石油的情况下。
Against the odds, some developers are making it work. When it opens in Cornwall next year, the United Downs Deep Geothermal Power project will become the UK’s first geothermal power plant. But getting the scheme off the ground took more than a decade, including five years to secure funding, says Ryan Law, founder of Geothermal Engineering, the firm behind the project.
尽管困难重重，但一些开发商正在让地热发挥作用。联合唐斯深部地热发电项目明年在康沃尔投入使用时，将成为英国第一个地热发电厂。但该项目背后的地热工程公司创始人瑞安·劳说，该计划的启动花了十多年时间，其中包括五年的资金筹措。
He agrees with MPs that the UK government needs to step in to incentivise investment in geothermal. Spiralling gas prices might just be the push politicians need to finally tap the UK’s considerable reserves, says Law.
他同意议员们的观点，即英国政府需要介入，鼓励地热投资。劳表示，不断攀升的天然气价格可能正是政客们最终挖掘英国可观储量所需的推动力。