#MoveTheDate
2
Days
Replacing home furnaces with electric heat pumps in cooler regions of the world would move Earth Overshoot Day by 2 days.
What is the solution?
Electric heat pumps work similarly to refrigerators by transferring heat from cold places to warmer ones and are effective where small temperature differences need to be bridged.
This solution improves our resource security in the energy category.
How does it #MoveTheDate?
Due to their energy efficiency, electric heat pumps reduce heating emissions by more than 45% when compared to gas furnaces and water heaters.
How is it scalable?
There is significant potential for expansion. The International Energy Agency reports that “although heat pumps have even become the most common technology in newly built houses in many countries, they meet only 5% of global building heating demand.”
What is the solution?
Electric heat pumps work similarly to refrigerators by transferring heat from cold places to warmer ones and are effective where small temperature differences need to be bridged.
This solution improves our resource security in the energy category.
How does it #MoveTheDate?
Due to their energy efficiency, installing electric heat pumps in place of gas furnaces and gas water heaters reduces heating emissions more than 45%.
How is it scalable?
There is significant potential for expansion. The International Energy Agency reports that “although heat pumps have even become the most common technology in newly built houses in many countries, they meet only 5% of global building heating demand.”
Image Credit: Phyxter.ai
In mild climates, heat pumps can produce 4 units of heat per unit of electricity. Using low level heat for floors (35C or 100F) with outside temperatures above freezing has the potential to produce up to 10 units of heat per unit of electricity.
The technology became available with the emergence of more reliable compressors in the early part of the 1900s. Zurich’s city hall contains the oldest still-functioning example, originally installed in 1937.
Given that a fossil fuel-free future requires moving away from using oil or gas for heating, electric heat pumps are the ideal replacement to keep houses warm. These pumps can use either underground heat or ambient air or water as a heat source. Efficiency decreases when outdoor temperatures drop below -20C/0F, but for most populations and regions, current electric heat pump technology is far more efficient than gas furnaces and water heaters
There’s no benefit in waiting!
Acting now puts you at a strategic advantage in a world increasingly defined by ecological overshoot. Countless solutions exist that #MoveTheDate. They’re creative, economically viable, and ready to deploy at scale. With them, we can make ourselves more resilient and #MoveTheDate of Earth Overshoot Day. If we move the date 6 days each year, humanity can be out of overshoot before 2050.