No it isn’t. The concept proven at United Downs relies on circulating water through natural fractures in the rock. This is not the same process as fracking, where a large volume of fluid with a complex chemical composition is injected at extremely high flow rates and pressures to create multiple new fractures in intact rock, to drain the oil or gas from the reservoir. Fracking brings concerns with waste disposal and contamination, whereas geothermal development simply circulates fresh water in pre-existing fractures and, once the heat is used at the surface, reinjects it into the same formation, as regulated by the Environment Agency.