£250,000 is being spent by the Scottish government to unlock the country's "geothermal potential," it has been announced.

A fund to support research into exploring Scotland’s geothermal capacity has been launched by Scottish Energy Minister Fergus Ewing.

The Challenge Fund is open to organisations working to benefit local communities, achieving sustainable carbon reductions that are commercially viable on a long term basis.

Minister Ewing said: "Heat is estimated to account for over half of Scotland’s total energy use with an estimated £2.6bn a year spent on heating by householders and the non-domestic sector.

"Over the last few years we have developed a better understanding and appreciation of the geothermal resource under our feet. Scotland already has two successful small-scale housing projects in Glenalmond Street, Shettleston, and Lumphinnans, Fife, which use water from disused mines to provide the heat for members of the local community.

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"I have taken the advice of the Geothermal Energy Expert Group to build on the findings of the study undertaken in 2012-13 by supporting exploration of the significant potential for geothermal energy in naturally occurring groundwater and the water collecting in our abandoned mines.

"Now is the time to take the experience of the housing projects in Shettleston and Fife and take the first steps towards the development of a delivery model which reduces carbon emissions, is self-sustaining and is economically viable."

Dr Richard Dixon, Director of Friends of the Earth Scotland, said: "Heating is our biggest source of climate emissions and geothermal energy can play a major part in replacing fossil-fuelled heating. We already know that there is potential to deploy geothermal energy on a very wide scale in Scotland This new funding is very welcome and will help good proposals get moving and attract further investment. Different techniques will have different impacts but geothermal energy is clearly worth serious investigation, and it is great that the Scottish Government is taking the lead in making this happen."

(IT)