Ballymena is bidding to become Northern Ireland’s first carbon neutral town thanks to an innovative new scheme to heat homes and businesses using energy from beneath the earth’s crust.

It is one of two projects in Northern Ireland to have won funding of up to £500,000 apiece to install district heating schemes that will slash fuel bills and reduce reliance on imported energy.

The town of Ballymena has been awarded £500,000 from the Government’s Low Carbon Community Challenge to pursue its plan of building a district heating network based on deep geothermal, biomass and residual heat technologies. The scheme will be used to heat public buildings, social housing and private residences, cut fossil fuel use and fuel poverty.

Meanwhile, Camphill Community Glencraig, near Omagh, has been awarded funds to install a biomass district heating scheme using locally sourced wood.