Could rivers provide a sustainable way to heat buildings and reduce energy bills?

The City of York has confirmed a river water source heat pump will be installed to provide low carbon heating to the 15th century-built Guildhall.

The installation is predicted to help the historic building make carbon savings of around 40 tonnes a year compared to the gas boiler solution.

How it works is by taking water from the River Ouse into the heat pump.

The water is run through a heat exchanger, where heat is abstracted from the river water before being returned to the river.

The system then converts this heat from around 5°C up to 45°C to warm large parts of the building.

These spaces will be heated using underfloor heating technology.

Councillor Paula Widdowson, Executive Member for Environment and Climate Change at City of York Council, said: “The carbon output of this heating method is much lower than using a traditional gas boiler.

“As a council, we are determined to play our part in helping to achieve our ambition of becoming a carbon net zero city.”

A few months ago, the government confirmed that all new gas boiler installations will be banned across the UK by 2035.

However, last week the BEIS committee urged Ministers to set a more detailed ban on gas boilers.