The Role of Heat Pumps in the IEA Net-Zero Emissions by 2050 Scenario

By Co-director Thibaut ABERGEL / International Energy Agency

The overall development of the global heat pump market is good. For example, the sales volume of heat pumps in Europe has increased by 12% every year in the past five years, and heat pumps in new buildings in the United States, Germany or France are the main heating technology. In the field of new buildings in China, with the improvement of functions in recent years, the sales volume of heat pump water heater has more than tripled since 2010, which is mainly due to China's incentive measures.

At the same time, the development of ground source heat pump in China is particularly eye-catching. In recent 10 years, the application of ground source heat pump has exceeded 500 million square meters, and other application fields are at an early stage of development, For example, industrial medium and low temperature heat pumps and distributed heating still rely on the direct use of fossil fuels.

Heat pump can provide more than 90% of the global building space heating demand, and emit less carbon dioxide than the most effective fossil fuel alternatives. Green countries on the map have less carbon emissions from running heat pumps than condensing gas-fired boilers for other countries.

Due to the increase of per capita income, in hot and humid countries, the number of household air conditioners may triple in the next few years, especially by 2050. The growth of air conditioners will produce economies of scale, which brings opportunities for heat pumps.

By 2050, heat pump will become the main heating equipment in the net zero emission scheme, accounting for 55% of the heating demand, followed by solar energy. Sweden is the most advanced country in this field, and 7% of the heat demand in the district heating system is provided by heat pump.

At present, about 180 million heat pumps are in operation. In order to achieve carbon neutralization, this figure needs to reach 600 million by 2030. In 2050, 55% of the buildings in the world need 1.8 billion heat pumps. There are other milestones related to heating and construction, that is, banning the use of fossil fuel boilers by 2025 to make room for other clean energy technologies such as heat pumps.


Post time: Nov-05-2021