The Green Heat (and cooling) Under Our Feet
Networked heat pumps - otherwise known as shared loop ground source heat or ambient temperature district heating - are going to be making a lot of news in the coming decade. Find out why.
Networked heat pumps - otherwise known as shared loop ground source heat or ambient temperature district heating - are going to be in the news a lot in the coming decade because of their contribution to decarbonizing dense housing, blocks of flats, and certain types of commercial property.
Some of of the advantages of networked heat pumps:
Similar network architecture to gas heating: a distribution loop owned by institutional investors, plus a small unit in each property owned by the home-owner (or a retail finance partner).
Similar bill structure to today’s gas bills: users pay an annual connection fee plus a charge per unit of heat used.
Unlike air source heat pumps: high COPs at all times of year because ground temperatures do not plummet in winter (not just cheaper for the home-owner, but vital for the grid, since otherwise COP drops just as heat demand rises).
Unlike high-temperature or steam district heating: very little heat loss in the distribution loop because the circulating fluid is at ambient underground temperature.
Unlike hydrogen: no wasteful electrolysis; no use of natural gas; no need for capture, transport and storage of CO2; no risk of gas leaks and deflagrations; no NOx production in homes; no need for every appliance in every house across a whole neighbourhood to switch at the same time; fully compatible with net zero.
Tamsin is one of the UK’s growing number of women engineering leaders driving the net zero transition. She’s the right person, in the right place, with the right technology, at the right time!
Listen or watch the episode now to find out why
[Disclosure: EcoPragma Capital, where I am co-founder and managing partner, helped Kensa raise its most recent round of funding]
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