AN industrial development in Tavistock has been chosen to take part in a pioneering scheme to test green energy technology ? the first of its kind in the region. The South West of England Regional Development Agency (RDA) has installed an earth energy heating system in five units on the Pitts Cleave Industrial Estate. The systems work by tapping into the earth?s natural energy under the ground in order to heat the buildings on the site. Their performance will be measured against other heating systems being used at Pitts Cleave to see how effective they are. The data will be used to promote renewable energy use in other projects and buildings funded by the South West RDA. Jonet Waldock, RDA head of environment, said: ?To our knowledge this is the first time such a study has been done and it?s part of our strategy to ensure the region becomes a leader in this field. ?Since 2002 we have directly invested more than £6-million in renewable energy technologies because we recognise their potential to grow the region?s economy, reduce carbon dioxide emissions and cut energy costs for business. ?For a number of years we have embraced sustainable construction and encouraged others to do likewise. ?This study will hopefully demonstrate that it?s worth investing in these new technologies because of their long-term environmental and economic benefits.? The £2.38-million Pitts Cleave estate includes five new industrial units and 15 workshops which have been jointly developed by West Devon Borough Council and the South West RDA, with support from the European Objective 2 programme. The industrial units are heated by an earth energy system and the workshops by a biomass burner run on wood pellet. Earth energy heating involves drilling bore holes to a depth of around 250ft, where the earth?s natural temperature is high enough to heat water circulating through pipes inserted into the bore holes. A heat exchanger extracts the energy to heat the buildings. The borough council?s head of economic and community development Tim Beavon said independent monitoring was being carried out to see firstly if these schemes provided a comfortable environment for people to work in and secondly how much they reduced the impact on climate change concerns. ?If successful we would be looking at similar renewable energy schemes for our workshops in Okehampton and our extension development at Kilworthy Park in Tavistock,? he said. West Devon has provided 15 units for new businesses in the ?Tavy Business Centre? at Pitts Cleave.