ヒートポンプの利点がNRELの新報告書に詳述される(News Release: Benefits of Heat Pumps Detailed in New NREL Report)

2024-02-13

2024-02-12 米国国立再生可能エネルギー研究所(NREL)

◆米国エネルギー省国立再生可能エネルギー研究所（NREL）の研究者によれば、数百万の米国世帯がヒートポンプから利益を得ることができますが、その技術の設置コストを下げる必要があります。彼らの発見は、Joule誌に詳細に記載されており、550,000の統計的に代表的な世帯のシミュレーションに基づいています。
◆その分析では、多くのアメリカ人（ヒートポンプの効率によって62％から95％の世帯）がエネルギー料金を下げる効果を享受するだろうと示されました。しかし、高い設置費用のため、ヒートポンプはごく一部の世帯にしか経済的に適していない可能性があります。

＜関連情報＞

すべての人にヒートポンプ？米国における住宅用空気熱源ヒートポンプのコストと便益の分布 Heat pumps for all? Distributions of the costs and benefits of residential air-source heat pumps in the United States

Eric J.H. Wilson ,Prateek Munankarmi,Brennan D. Less,Janet L. Reyna,Stacey Rothgeb
Joule Published:February 12, 2024
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.joule.2024.01.022

Highlights

•Electrification with heat pumps reduces lifetime GHG emissions in every US state
•Air-to-air heat pumps are cost effective without subsidies in 65 million US homes
•Cold-climate heat pumps avoid most bill increases but at a higher upfront cost
•Envelope upgrades can save thousands of dollars on the upfront cost of heat pumps

Summary

Electrification of fossil-fuel combustion in buildings is a key component of achieving global greenhouse gas emissions targets. We use physics simulations of 550,000 statistically representative households to analyze distributions of the costs and benefits of three air-to-air heat pump performance levels, with and without insulation upgrades, across the diversity of the US housing stock. We find positive greenhouse gas reductions in every US state for all performance levels across five 2022–2038 electric grid scenarios, with full adoption reducing national emissions by 5%–9%. We find that air-to-air heat pumps could be cost effective without subsidies in 59% of households (65 million). However, efficiency is key: whereas minimum-efficiency equipment could increase energy bills in 39% of households, this fraction is only 19% when also upgrading insulation or 5% when using higher-efficiency equipment, though both strategies have higher upfront costs. Such affordability challenges could be addressed through supportive incentives, policy, and innovation.