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Air-source heat pump carbon footprints: HFC impacts and comparison to other heat sources

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  • Johnson, Eric P.

Abstract

European governments see that heat pumps could reduce carbon emissions in space- and hot-water heating. EU's Renewable Energy Directive designates heat pumps as renewable - eligible for various subsidies - if their carbon footprints are below an implied, average threshold. This threshold omits carbon generated by manufacture and emission of a heat-pump's fluorocarbon refrigerant. It also omits the footprint of the heat pump's hardware. To see if these omissions are significant, this study calculated carbon footprints of representative, residential heat pumps in the UK. Three findings emerged. First, in relation to power generation, which accounts for most of a heat-pump's greenhouse-gas emissions, fluorocarbons add another 20% to the footprint. Second, at UK efficiencies a heat-pump footprint (in kg CO2e emitted per kWh delivered) is comparable or higher than footprints of gaseous fuels used in heating. It is lower than the footprint of heating oil and far lower than the footprints of solid fuels. Third, production and disposal of a heat pump's hardware is relatively insignificant, accounting for only 2-3% of the overall heat-pump footprint. Sensitivities to the results were assessed: key factors are footprint of electricity generation, F-gas composition and leak rates and type of wall construction.

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  • Johnson, Eric P., 2011. "Air-source heat pump carbon footprints: HFC impacts and comparison to other heat sources," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 39(3), pages 1369-1381, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:enepol:v:39:y:2011:i:3:p:1369-1381
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    1. Wang, Y. & Wang, J. & He, W., 2022. "Development of efficient, flexible and affordable heat pumps for supporting heat and power decarbonisation in the UK and beyond: Review and perspectives," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 154(C).
    2. Vincenzo Bianco & Annalisa Marchitto & Federico Scarpa & Luca A Tagliafico, 2020. "Heat pumps for buildings heating: Energy, environmental, and economic issues," Energy & Environment, , vol. 31(1), pages 116-129, February.
    3. Kapica, Jacek & Pawlak, Halina & Ścibisz, Marek, 2015. "Carbon dioxide emission reduction by heating poultry houses from renewable energy sources in Central Europe," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 139(C), pages 238-249.
    4. Wang, D. & Parkinson, S. & Miao, W. & Jia, H. & Crawford, C. & Djilali, N., 2012. "Online voltage security assessment considering comfort-constrained demand response control of distributed heat pump systems," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 96(C), pages 104-114.
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    6. O'Hegarty, R. & Kinnane, O. & Lennon, D. & Colclough, S., 2022. "Air-to-water heat pumps: Review and analysis of the performance gap between in-use and product rated performance," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 155(C).
    7. Sokka, L. & Sinkko, T. & Holma, A. & Manninen, K. & Pasanen, K. & Rantala, M. & Leskinen, P., 2016. "Environmental impacts of the national renewable energy targets – A case study from Finland," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 59(C), pages 1599-1610.
    8. Feng, Yong-qiang & Zhang, Fei-yang & Xu, Jing-wei & He, Zhi-xia & Zhang, Qiang & Xu, Kang-jing, 2023. "Parametric analysis and multi-objective optimization of biomass-fired organic Rankine cycle system combined heat and power under three operation strategies," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 208(C), pages 431-449.
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    10. Simon Rees & Robin Curtis, 2014. "National Deployment of Domestic Geothermal Heat Pump Technology: Observations on the UK Experience 1995–2013," Energies, MDPI, vol. 7(8), pages 1-40, August.
    11. Greening, Benjamin & Azapagic, Adisa, 2012. "Domestic heat pumps: Life cycle environmental impacts and potential implications for the UK," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 39(1), pages 205-217.
    12. Andrzej Gajewski & Katarzyna Gładyszewska-Fiedoruk & Dorota Anna Krawczyk, 2019. "Carbon Dioxide Emissions during Air, Ground, or Groundwater Heat Pump Performance in Białystok," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(18), pages 1-16, September.
    13. Amponsah, Nana Yaw & Troldborg, Mads & Kington, Bethany & Aalders, Inge & Hough, Rupert Lloyd, 2014. "Greenhouse gas emissions from renewable energy sources: A review of lifecycle considerations," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 39(C), pages 461-475.
    14. Sovacool, Benjamin K. & Griffiths, Steve & Kim, Jinsoo & Bazilian, Morgan, 2021. "Climate change and industrial F-gases: A critical and systematic review of developments, sociotechnical systems and policy options for reducing synthetic greenhouse gas emissions," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 141(C).
    15. Gimeno-Frontera, Beatriz & Mainar-Toledo, María Dolores & Sáez de Guinoa, Aitana & Zambrana-Vasquez, David & Zabalza-Bribián, Ignacio, 2018. "Sustainability of non-residential buildings and relevance of main environmental impact contributors' variability. A case study of food retail stores buildings," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 94(C), pages 669-681.

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