Abandoned mines in the county of Cumbria, North West England, could be used to provide clean, cheap geothermal energy to nearby communities.

Britain's Energy Coast’s executive, Lee Carr, told delegates at the Energy Business Opportunities Conference Tuesday that a similar system was already being developed in Glasgow, which could provide about 40% of the city's energy needs, In-Cumbria reports.

The idea is to pump warm water sitting in flooded pits to the surface and then extract and distribute that generated heat. The scheme is being explored as a way of tapping into an unexpected legacy of Cumbria's coal, zinc and lead mining heritage.

If successful, the method could be used worldwide, British experts say, as all you would need is to find old, disused mines in areas with a population nearby. Otherwise it wouldn’t be cheap to get the heat to where it is needed.