Cooling is essential to protect people’s health. Heat pumps can both heat and cool. They can also recover and reuse the heat generated when cooling. This makes them a dual-purpose technology that supports climate mitigation, adaptation and energy system flexibility.
This paper explores why cooling should become a core element of European energy policy, and proposes policy actions to accelerate deployment of heat pumps for both heating and cooling.
What needs to happen?
- Heat pumps that both heat and cool should be promoted as the standard solution.
- Policy and financial incentives should support systems that can both heat and cool
- Social leasing of heat pumps that both heat and cool should be encouraged (meaning they can be rented at low cost by poorer households)
- Certification and support schemes should be in place for heating and cooling heat pumps
- Increase people’s awareness around heat pumps that also cool
- Waste heat from cooling should be systematically recovered and reused.
Read the paper for more
