Can heat pumps solve the climate crisis? Can they also cripple the Russian economy?

[Sherman A1]

Heat pumps are seen as central to reducing CO2 emissions. They could also reduce Europe's dependence on Russian gas, argues a US environmentalist. In Switzerland, the heat pump market is growing, slowly.

This content was published on March 24, 2022 - 14:00 March 24, 2022 - 14:00
Luigi Jorio
Other languages: 5
Late February, just days after Russia had invaded Ukraine, Bill McKibben, an influential American journalist and environmentalist, suggested equipping Europe with heat pumps, a device that extracts heat energy from the air, water or ground and uses it to heat a building. This, McKibben argued, would allow Europe to cut back on its dependency on Russian gas and deal a heavy blow to Russian president Vladimir Putin. Russia earns more than $1 billion a day exporting its oil and gas, much of which goes to Europe, according to Bloomberg calculations.

American companies could step up production of heat pumps, which run on electricity, and export them to Europe, McKibben explained. Potentially, that would electrify some of the 75 million homes in Europe and the United Kingdom that currently depend on Russian gas.

To speed up production, he suggested United States President Joe Biden invoke the Defense Production Act (DPA). This law gives federal agencies the power to exponentially increase the supply of services and materials related to national defense. The DPA had already been used to address the coronavirus pandemic, specifically to increase the production of masks and ventilators.

https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/can-heat-pumps-solve-the-climate-crisis--can-they-also-cripple-the-russian-economy-/47449660?utm_campaign=teaser-in-channel&utm_content=o&utm_medium=display&utm_source=swissinfoch

[harumph]

1. Now - this is interesting.

I've wondered about Germany's dependence on Russian oil. At the same time,
aren't they known for their super efficient homes?

https://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/sustainability/our-insights/net-zero-germany-chances-and-challenges-on-the-path-to-climate-neutrality-by-2045

[CentralMass]

2. How much increased electrical demand will it create and can current EU electrical power plants

handle it and what increased fuel demands it require ?

[Miguelito Loveless]

5. Renewables and batteries can meet the demand

Plus, they are cheaper to build and faster to build. Time for a "Manhattan Project" of wind and solar farms.

[Rebl2]

3. Many of

the schools in the school district I am in use these and have for many years now. Don’t know anything about how well they heat. Think initially they are expensive to buy and install, but save $ in the long run.

[Otto_Harper]

4. I've been heating my home with heat pump for past 25+ years. The one gotcha

is that an air sourced heat pump, as opposed to a geothermal (takes heat from the ground) sourced heat pump is when the outside air temperature falls below about 18F or so, the available heat for it to extract from outdoors is greatly reduced and so it reverts to resistance heaters (about 4X more costly of electricity to operate). The advantages of replacing combustion heat sources with a heat pump depends greatly on the winter climate where you are installing it.

[Rebl2]

6. I am

in the MO and it gets pretty cold at times. I believe the district installed geothermal pumps. Would be interested to know how it has worked out for the district. I don’t think they installed them at all the schools because if I remember correctly, you need a large area of land to install it. Am I correct in my thinking?

[Miguelito Loveless]

7. Mass deployment of heat pumps

would drive down the cost on the equipment and installation costs for both types.

[Salviati]

9. I was literally just watching a Technology Connections video on youtube earlier today...

where he updated a video he made last year about heat pumps, including details on the newest generation of machines available for sale now. Some of them operate at full capacity, with COP of 2.5+ (so they are more efficient at heating your home than burning natural gas directly) at temperatures down to 5 F.

These models (granted not all of them, and not older ones for sure) make heat pumps viable in a lot of areas where they really wouldn't have been in the past.

[Otto_Harper]

11. The only issue with my now 11 year old unit

is that it really doesn't do all that well below about 15F, and, with the climate shift we are seeing, this winter we spent a lot of time at or below that temperature (not the usual for around here). Under "usual" conditions, the heating bills have been rather modest. As soon as the heat pump needs help from the resistance heating bank, things can get a might expensive.

As technology improves, under the impetus of increased demand and performance requirements, I have no doubt that we will get to the point where the heat pump wil replace the practice of piping a flammable gas all over the country so that we can burn it in a little box in our homes to derive a bit of warmth.

[hunter]

8. Another article...

Could super-sized heat pumps make gas boilers extinct?

The war in Ukraine has forced a rethink of where we get our energy from as Europe tries to wean itself off Russian gas. But could super-sized heat pumps help to heat thousands of homes and businesses? Two huge schemes are about to be switched on in Gateshead and London - and the hope is they could provide a greener and cheaper source of warmth.

"Coal mining was massive in the North East," says Jim Gillon, walking across a building site in Gateshead.

"And where we're standing there are six different mine workings beneath our feet."

Jim is the Energy Services Manager for Gateshead Council - and he's giving this former fossil fuel site a green makeover for an ambitious new heating scheme.

--more--

https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-60772187

California is discouraging gas appliances in new homes. Some cities have already banned gas appliances for new construction.

In the United Kingdom homeowners can get large rebates for heat pumps. Subsidies like this have made them hard to get. Supply hasn't caught up with demand. The one I've been looking at costs about $5,000 and would heat both our water and our home. (We live in a mild climate.) Unfortunately these are back-ordered forever and most of them are being sold by the lot to institutional users and developers. The shortage is also reflected in prices. For now I'll wait. Most of the smaller heat pumps are made in Asia, or have major components made in Asia, especially Japan, South Korea, and China. In the U.S.A. manufacturers generally specialize in huge heat pumps for large buildings.

Heat pumps generally have lower carbon emissions and produce less air pollution than gas appliances, even when gas is burned to produce the electricity that powers them.

If we had any sense we'd be replacing all fossil fuel power plants with nuclear power plants.

Natural gas is by far the most dangerous energy source, mostly because people think it's relatively clean and it makes their renewable energy schemes economically viable. Unfortunately there's enough natural gas in the ground to destroy the world as we know it. It's best we leave it there.

[NNadir]

10. Tens of thousands of people have written books about what Bill McKibben doesn't know.

They're engineering texts.

[hunter]

12. What's it they say about broken clocks?

But you are correct. An abundance of nuclear power would make all these renewable energy schemes moot. Nuclear power could also displace natural gas and other fossil fuels entirely.

All these renewable energy schemes that Bill McKibben supports are the best thing that ever happened to the natural gas industry. Large scale solar and wind projects will only increase our long term dependence on natural gas.

We have all the technology we need to quit fossil fuels now, most importantly nuclear power. We need to stop futzing around around and just do it. Large scale solar and wind projects are not making the world a better place, and too many people are promoting renewable energy fantasies without doing the actual math.

[NickB79]

13. Mine is heating my house right now

It's 20F outside here, but 72F inside, tied into our home's ductwork.

Mine (Carrier) functions fine down to 15F; below that our propane furnace will take over. We also have a wood stove in the living room that I use Nov-March when it starts going below zero. I've read the newest generation will operate down to 0F effectively.

And when it's hot in the summer, it functions as our air conditioner, since we needed to replace our 25 yr old model a few years ago.

I also get an off-peak adjustment from our utility as the unit is on it's own meter, along with a substantial one-time rebate. It saves me hundreds every year on heating costs.