If you’ve lived in areas with cold winters—really cold winters—you’ll applaud this research. It holds the potential to further the goal of decarbonization of the building industry plus improve comfort.
Ground-source heat pumps have been in use since around the late 1940s, credited to Robert C. Webber, an American inventor. They sound like a great idea, but often fall short of providing adequate heating (if used as the only source of heat in residential or commercial buildings) in extremely cold temperatures. Consequently, conventional heat pumps may be installed along with traditional sources of heat (furnaces fueled by natural gas or propane) as an alternative to use when temperatures are more moderate.
The Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) has been awarded a 3-year US Department of Energy (DOE) grant to develop a new, energy efficient hybrid heat-pump system for residential and commercial buildings in coordination with Oak Ridge National Laboratory. If implemented throughout the country, the hybrid heat-pump system could reduce US carbon emissions by 65 million metric tons by 2040, the equivalent of eliminating all of California's carbon emissions caused by cars.
The aim is to design a new heat pump—combining thermoelectric heat with more conventional air-source heat—to operate in temperatures below 35°F, while still providing an efficient and reliable heating system. Its performance will be tested in various climates throughout the country.
Heat pumps have become the most common technology in residential buildings in many countries, but still only meet 7% of global building heating demand (International Energy Agency). Almost 180 million heat pumps were used for heating in 2020. The Net Zero Emissions by 2050 Scenario calls for 600 million installed heat pumps by 2030.
The EU market is leading in the expansion of heat pump use with around 1.8 million households purchasing a system in 2020. Germany replaced Spain as one of the top three markets and, together with France and Italy, accounted for nearly half of all sales in the EU.
The uptake for new and existing buildings globally, however, lags fossil-fuel-based technologies, which made up nearly half of heating equipment sales in 2020.
"Advanced heat pumps are a potentially transformative tool to evolve energy efficiency and reduce carbon emissions," said David Porter, senior director of electrification and sustainable energy strategy at EPRI. "As the electric industry transitions to a clean energy future, heat pumps are expected to play a key role in decarbonizing the building industry."
Developed through DOE's Building Efficiency Frontiers and Innovation Technologies (BENEFIT) program, the project aims to maintain current heating standards and building comfort, while reducing energy consumption in residential and small commercial buildings by 10%.
For Further Reading
Quick Insights: Extreme Cold Weather and Heat Pumps. EPRI Technology Innovation.
