Perth and Kinross Council is exploring ways to use green areas as a means of heating homes.
It comes as part of a Scotland-wide Greenspace research project – Green Heat in Greenspaces (GHiGs) – aimed at cutting carbon emissions.
Currently 80% of Scottish households rely on centralised mains gas for heating, making heat a main cause of carbon emissions.
Perth and Kinross Council is among Scottish councils considering using pumps to extract heat from the ground.
Depute Director for Housing and Environment at the authority, Keith McNamara said: “This project is an exciting opportunity for us to consider the potential of our much-valued greenspaces to deliver renewable-based energy projects to support and benefit our communities in our journey towards a net zero future.”
Chief Executive of Greenspace Scotland, Julie Procter said: “This exciting project will allow us to evaluate the scale of contribution that Scotland’s greenspaces can make towards our low carbon heat transition.
“The number and range of partners involved in GHiGs demonstrates the widespread interest across the public sector in optimising use of their land assets to address decarbonisation objectives.”
