Scientists have worked out that derelict land in Glasgow could be used to power homes for the city’s fuel poor.

The results, published in the journal Renewable Energy, suggest with ground source heat pumps and the right investment, there is sufficient brownfield land to easily meet the heat demand of all households in fuel poverty.

Scientists at the University of Strathclyde worked out around 9% of Glasgow is derelict land which could be used to generate enough power for about 35,000 homes. Glasgow has an estimated 93,000 households in fuel poverty of which 35,000 may be at high risk. A household is said to be in fuel poverty if sufficient energy services cannot be provided for 10% of income.

Dr Richard Lord senior lecturer in Civil and Environmental Engineering said: “It is clear that using brownfield land to provide ground source heating for social housing has the potential to contribute to alleviating fuel poverty as well as bringing significant opportunities for the restoration and reuse of vacant and derelict land.”

Ground source heat pumps use electrical power but produce roughly three times as much heat in return.