A STUDY to test the potential for former mines to be used to heat homes has been given £1.6 million in funding.
Metro Mayor Dan Norris announced the study, backed by the government’s Coal Authority and Historic England, to see if water warmed naturally deep underground in old mine workings by geological activity can be brought to the surface to provide viable domestic heat.
The process would involve using pumps to raise the temperature to the level required for heating and hot water.
Mr Norris says there is the potential to heat more than 100,000 homes in the region, where almost a quarter sit above flooded coal mines.