Glasgow is planning to use the energy from the ground in order to help power homes and communities.

The British Geological Survey (BGS) has identified significant potential in Glasgow to harness heat contained in the ground.

Work is now under way by officers at Glasgow City Council and the BGS to help identify which parts of the city would offer the best prospects of supplying this kind of energy.

If it is successful, this new source has the potential to help Glasgow meet government targets to ensure 11% of heat demand comes from renewable sources by 2020. It will also contribute to the city’s ambition, set out through the Sustainable Glasgow partnership, to become one of Europe’s most sustainable cities within the next 10 years.

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Councillor Gordon Matheson, Leader of Glasgow City Council and chair of Sustainable Glasgow, said: "I am committed to ensuring that everyone in Glasgow has access to affordable warmth. The council is investigating all avenues to allow us to harness energy from sustainable sources and make it cheaper to heat homes in our city.

"Through the new local development plan we are looking to see how we can grow our city in the future and obviously sustainable issues form a major part of how we can grow Glasgow.

"I look forward to hearing how the potential for ground source heat in our city can be realised. We want developers and local communities to come forward in the future with projects which could use this new source of heating and help ensure that everyone in Glasgow is able to benefit from the new green energy revolution."

The proposals to harness heat from the shallow depths of the earth form part of the Local Development Plan Main Issues Report and will help to set out Glasgow’s vision for the coming years and give guidance on what is and is not acceptable to be built or developed in the city.

(GK)