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Environmental benefits of heat pumpsTo emphasize the potential which heat pumps offer,the International Energy Agency (IEA) Heat PumpCentre has assessed the global environmental benefitsof heat pumps.The environmental impact of an electric heat pumpapplied in a building is compared with that of a conventionalboiler. The building is assumed to have anannual heating demand of 15 000 kWh. The singlemost important CO2 emission source is the localcombustion of oil or gas in a boiler, and the generationof electricity for driving the electric heat pumpor the electric boiler. The emission rates of a boilerand an electric heat pump depend on the energyefficiency of the equipment, and on the fuel mix andefficiency of electricity generation. The CO2 emissionsof conventional heating systems are comparedwith heat pumps with two levels of efficiency, shownin the figure. The SPF=3 case represents typicalsystems today,heat recovery heat pump, SPF=6 represents efficiencies that canbe expected in the future. Assumed is an averageEuropean CO2 emission of 0.47 kg CO2/kWhel forelectricity generation9. Boiler and heat pump efficienciesare shown in the table below. An electricheat pump operating on electricity from renewableenergy sources does not emit any CO2 at all. All heatpump cases emit considerably less CO2 than the boilercases. This effect will increase with the greeningof electricity production (secondary effect).In conclusion, heat pumps offer a distinct advantageover conventional heating equipment in termsof CO2 emissions.