Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
If conventional rather than green energy is used to operate a heat pump, the savings
in carbon dioxide emissions are still relatively low due to the poor effi ciency of
fossil thermal power plants compared to modern natural gas heating (Figure 11.8).
If the heat pump also uses a HFC refrigerant that impacts the environment, in an
extreme case the environmental balance sheet can turn out to be even worse than
with a modern heating system using natural gas.
Figure 11.8
Environmental balance sheet on two heat pump heating options and natural gas heating.
11.6 Heat Pump Markets
After the fi rst oil crisis in the 1970s, the heat pump sector experienced a real boom.
However, due to technical problems, a drop in oil prices and a lack of environmental
compatibility, the market for heat pumps collapsed almost completely by the late
1980s. The market did not revive until the mid-1990s and is currently experiencing
high annual growth rates. Figure 11.9 shows the sales of heat pumps for Germany
as an example of market development.
However, heat pumps are much more popular in certain other countries than in
Germany, and around 450 000 were installed in the European Union in 2006. With
122000 systems installed, Sweden has the biggest heat pump market by a large
margin. In 2006, around 75% of all newly built single-family homes in Switzerland
had heat pump heating. As the average carbon dioxide emissions resulting from the
generation of electricity in Switzerland and Sweden are substantially lower than in
Germany, heat pumps in those countries also have a much more favourable envi-
ronmental balance sheet, in addition to cost advantages.
