“Heat pumps have the potential to reduce global carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions by at least 500 million tonnes in 2030” – that’s just one of the exciting projections from the International Energy Agency (IEA)'s new special report, The Future of Heat Pumps. It details the potential for heat pumps to reduce reliance on gas for heating, decarbonise energy use and to create jobs as uptake grows. However, it also highlights the need for policy action to address bottlenecks.
While the report focuses a a lot on residential and built environment use of heat pumps, it also looks at current and future opportunities for heat pumps to decarbonise industrial processes. It notes the paper, food and chemicals industries which have been hit hard by rises in natural gas prices, have the largest near‐term opportunities, with nearly 30% of their combined heating needs able to be addressed by heat pumps.
As well as the emissions reduction potential, a scenario in which all governments achieve their energy and climate pledges in full also predicts global employment in heat pump supply could nearly triple to more than 1.3 million workers to 2030.
Read and download the report here: https://www.iea.org/reports/the-future-of-heat-pumps