The United States: vigorously promotes the installation of heat pumps, planning to deploy 20 million

The United States: vigorously promotes the installation of heat pumps, planning to deploy 20 million units by 2030

On Thursday local time, the American Climate Alliance announced that it would promote the installation of more heat pumps in many states in the United States, with the goal of deploying 20 million new heat pumps by 2030.

The US Climate Alliance is a bipartisan alliance established to maintain the commitments of the Paris Agreement in the United States. Currently, the alliance members include 25 states, including 55% of the US population and 60% of the US economy. The alliance is not a legally binding treaty but a coalition of state governments with similar policies on climate change.

"Listen, I think all Americans have certain rights, and that includes the right to life, the right to liberty and the right to pursue heat pumps," Washington State Governor Jay Inslee said that day.

Inslee added that the reason heat pumps are so important to Americans is simple: We want to be warm in the winter, we want to be cool in the summer, and we want to prevent climate breakdown. “In all of human history, there has been no greater invention than the heat pump for those three things.”

He noted that this greatest invention "had an unfortunate name" because although it was called a heat pump, it could heat cold spaces as well as cool hot ones.

Heat pumps are an energy-saving alternative to fossil fuel furnaces and air conditioners. A heat pump is a device that extracts low-grade heat energy from natural air, water or soil, and uses electricity to do work to provide high-grade heat energy that can be used by people. They can heat a building when it's cold outside and cool it when it's hot outside.

According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), heat pumps can reduce greenhouse gas emissions by at least 20% compared to gas boilers, even when running on emissions-intensive electricity. In countries with cleaner electricity, this reduction can be as high as 80%.

Data shows that heat pumps can also save consumers on energy bills, saving each household in the United States $300 per year. In areas with higher natural gas prices, such as Europe, installing a heat pump can save about $900 per year.

Inslee said it's now just as difficult for people to stay cool in the summer as it is to stay warm in the winter. Here in Seattle, Washington, we're all starting to need air conditioning, which means we're in trouble.

In fact, according to the Washington State Department of Health, Seattle experienced an "unprecedented" heat wave from June 26 to July 2, 2021, during which 100 people died from the heat.

According to a 2022 report from the Brookings Institution, about 10% of households in the United States do not have air conditioning, which is particularly common in disadvantaged communities. As a result, governors believe resources need to be directed toward these areas.

"It's clear to me that we are the first generation to really feel the impacts of climate change, and we're not talking about an imminent threat, we're talking about what's happening here and now," New York Governor Kathy Hochul said. "

"Whether it's Georgia or Maine, whether it's the East Coast or the West Coast, heat pumps are an effective technology that can reduce costs in a very positive way," White House national climate adviser Ali Zaidi said Thursday. It’s good news for our economy, good news for our climate and energy security.”