Meeting targets for CO2 reduction will change the way we keep warm!

As the world moves towards a low carbon economy the practices in western society of using gas and oil-fired boilers/furnaces for heating and air conditioning for cooling, is no longer sustainable in the longer term.

Using low-carbon technologies and increasing the use of renewable energy to deliver targets for reducing carbon dioxide is what the future holds for people all over the planet. Its now clear that if governments are to be supported in meeting targets for CO2 reduction then we all have to accelerate change in ‘heating’ and address ‘cooling’ in a responsible manner.

A relatively new device called a heat pump will become an integral part of any plan to reduce harmful gasses released into the atmosphere made possible by transferring heat energy from one environment to another. In cooling mode, air-conditioning works by using a refrigerant gas in an enclosed system. The heat pump technology transfers the heat absorbed by the gas in the enclosed area (room, industrial process) to the outside air, resulting in a cooling of the area in question. Then at the flick of a switch, the system can be reversed extracting heat from the outside air and bringing it indoors allowing rooms to be heated.

Movers of heat energy

Heat pumps have an important advantage in the area of efficiency. Unlike fossil fuel based heating systems, heat pumps extract available heat from the outside air producing gains in efficiency of approximately 3:1 and higher compared to electrical heating. Thus for every unit of energy consumed by the heat pump, three or more units of heat are gained. Heat pumps as movers of heat energy upgrade naturally occurring low temperature heat into useful high temperature heat (and vice versa) to provide cooling.

This technology is already well known in the air conditioning market and used throughout the world. In Sweden and Switzerland who were early adopters heat pumps are used as a primary source for heating and producing hot water. Heat pump technology is very flexible, with excellent energy efficiency and CO2 reduction potential. When it comes to cooling building, environments ‘free cooling and heat recovery’ strategies are of significant importance. The use of fresh air and natural ventilation when combined with an air conditioning system reduces energy consumption. Re-use of the warm air being expelled from a building to provide heat back into the building is better than warming-up the outside.