The Scottish Government has announced the creation of a new fund designed to accelerate the decarbonisation of public sector properties, including leisure centres, schools and university campuses.

The University of Edinburgh, Fife Council and North Lanarkshire Council are among the first seven projects to share grants for clean heating and energy efficiency improvements totalling £11 million from the £20 million Public Sector Heat Decarbonisation Fund.

The funding, to support the ambition to reach net zero by 2045, is the first time direct grant awards have been made to public sector bodies instead of loans.

A recent Scottish Government consultation on proposals for a Heat in Buildings Bill asked for views on a possible requirement for all buildings owned by a Scottish public authority to move to clean heating systems by the end of 2038. There are currently around 23,000 buildings in public ownership.

Zero Carbon Buildings Minister Patrick Harvie said: "Heat from our homes and buildings is responsible for around a fifth of Scotland's overall emissions so there is no route to delivering Net Zero by 2045 without tackling this. Not just our homes but our schools, universities, offices, hospitals and libraries also need to improve their energy efficiency and make the move to clean heating.

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"We are absolutely committed to addressing Scotland's reliance on direct emission heating systems that produce greenhouse gas emissions when we use them, which is why we have consulted on ambitious proposals for a Heat in Buildings Bill which we intend to bring forward during the current Parliament.

"We have made clear that we want all public sector buildings to have moved to clean heat by the end of 2038. We expect the public sector to demonstrate leadership in this area and I am therefore very pleased to be able to confirm these first awards from the Fund. Further awards will be confirmed shortly."

The funding is part of £200 million already committed to the public sector for energy efficiency and renewable heating over the next five years - part of the wider plan to spend £1.8 billion during the current parliamentary session on decarbonising Scotland's buildings.

The University of Edinburgh will receive £2.08m to support the reduction of heat demand at its King's Buildings campus, home to the College of Science and Engineering, including through fabric insulation and pipework insulation upgrades.

The project will also take steps towards the decarbonisation of heat supply. A heat recovery pump will recycle waste heat from one of the University's data centres and upgrade it for use within a local district heating network.

Catherine Martin, Vice Principal Corporate Services, University of Edinburgh said: "The climate crisis is one of the greatest challenges we are facing. The University of Edinburgh has a clear commitment to take positive action to address our impact on the climate and ultimately reach our institutional goal of being net zero by 2040. We need a coordinated approach to these activities and the funding from the Scottish Government will support our efforts to generate solutions and sustainably adapt the way we operate."