Road Infrastructure as a Subsurface Geothermal Energy Platform

Project Overview

Road infrastructure represents an extensive yet largely untapped subsurface thermal resource. Thermo-road systems integrate heat exchanger pipes within pavement layers to harvest or store geothermal energy. They offer a unique opportunity to support the UK's transition to net zero while increasing the resilience of road infrastructure. These systems can help mitigate temperature-induced deterioration, reduce freeze-thaw damage, and urban heat island effects.

The project will deliver:

Policy Brief on Thermo-Road Infrastructure

• The brief will synthesise the current state of knowledge on road-embedded geothermal energy systems, addressing technical feasibility, cost-benefit evidence, and barriers to adoption in the UK context. The project team will co-develop the brief with input from industry and government stakeholders to ensure it reflects real-world procurement and policy needs. We will disseminate the brief directly to National Highways, the Department for Transport, local highway authorities, and relevant All-Party Parliamentary Groups. The brief will provide decision-makers with a practical tool for considering geothermal road technologies as part of net-zero infrastructure strategies.

 UK-AAPHE Knowledge Exchange Workshop

• A one-day workshop hosted at the University of Leeds under the UK Academic Alliance for Pavement and Highway Engineering (UK-AAPHE). The event will bring together participants from academia, industry, and government. The workshop will feature structured sessions on research priorities, technology readiness, deployment barriers, and policy needs. The research team will produce an agreed research and innovation roadmap for thermo-road infrastructure in the UK. This roadmap will directly inform future collaborative funding bids, including EPSRC and Innovate UK calls, and become publicly available via the UK-AAPHE network.