Heating emissions could be cut by 10% courtesy of the Scottish government's new Heat Networks Bill, research has revealed.

Commissioned by Scottish Renewables, the report found the new Bill could see the equivalent of 460,000 homes heated renewably by 2030. It found 46 potential heat network projects across Scotland's seven cities, which would initially serve 45,000 homes but could grow ten-fold by 2030.

Heat networks deliver heat collected from sources as diverse as incinerators, rivers and sewers to buildings via a network of pipes underground. The technology is well established in other countries including Denmark, where the city of Copenhagen is entirely heated this way.

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Scottish Renewables is calling on the Scottish Government to use its recently-announced Heat Networks Bill to address an uncertain low-carbon heat industry.

Fabrice Leveque, Senior Policy Manager at Scottish Renewables, said: "Heat networks are a mature technology that will allow us to grow our use of renewable heat.

"The Scottish Government's Heat Networks Bill should be at the heart of an ambitious strategy to stop Scotland from falling behind the rest of the UK in the deployment of this key climate solution."

The Scottish government is yet to confirm the details of the Heat Networks Bill.

(CM/JG)