Water Source Heat Pump

[biffvernon]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-32054802

A million properties across England could in future be heated by water from rivers, canals and the sea, the government says.
The Department for Energy calculates this is the potential of a technology known as the water source heat pump.
This relies on a heat exchanger, which uses a system akin to refrigeration to amplify warmth from pipes in the sea.
If the energy from the process comes from renewables, properties can be warmed with near-zero carbon emissions.
The government’s water source heat map identifies more than six gigawatts of potential low-carbon heat.

The heat map is quite fun:
http://tools.decc.gov.uk/nationalheatmap/

[emordnilap]

Now there's a fun project - a water-source heat pump driven (using electricity generated) by the water itself.

[adam2]

Water source heat pumps show more promise than air or ground source because, by definition water is always above freezing point unlike air or ground.

There is however little to be gained by burning natural gas to produce electricity at an average delivered efficiency of about 33% and then using this electricity to run a heat pump.
It would be simpler to burn the gas in a condensing boiler, and certainly a lot cheaper in capital cost.

If however the electricity is from renewables, then the idea has more merit.