The installation of heat pumps in factories could save 1.5 billion of dollars and 77,000 lives
For several years now, heat pumps have had gas ovens with the United States. Instead of burning fossil fuels to generate heat, these devices use electricity – ideally supplied by renewable sources such as wind and solar energy – to transfer heat from uniform outdoor air even in a house. Many states have recognized the power of these very effective devices to reduce emissions and prevent people from burning toxic natural gas in their homes: in 2023, Maine achieved its objective of installing 100,000 two years ahead of the calendar, then committed and undertook to install 175,000 more in 2027.
Now attention turns to industries burning fossil fuels in boilers to treat food, textiles and a multitude of other goods. In addition to producing almost a quarter of the issues directly issued by the nation greenhouseThe manufacturing sector loads the atmosphere with toxic, including nitrogen oxides, sulfur oxides and PM 2.5 – particles less than 2.5 million meters – which all cause extensive and serious health problems across the country.
The solution is the humble heat pump, although much larger versions that you would have for your home. A new report by the American Lung Association reveals that the replacement of 33,500 conventional boilers based on national combustion by this electric alternative could avoid 77,200 premature deaths, 33 million asthma asthma and more than 200,000 cases of asthma by 2050.
“Many people may not think about the role of industrial manufacturing in local air pollution, or in terms of climate change, but this can be an important factor and cause real health damage,” said Will Barrett, deputy vice-president of national air policy specific to American Lung Association. “Going to zero -emission technologies that do not burn fuel – but they produce the same heat, the same steam and boiling water necessary to meet these manufacturing needs – we can see these massive public health benefits.”
Industrial heat pumps work like household units: by manipulating the pressure from the refrigerants, they extract heat from the outside air and use this energy to heat something. Because heat pumps move from heat instead of generating it, they are several times more effective than even the best gas ovens. This report has modeled the adoption of heat pumps that operate in low -temperature industrial processes, such as drinking and paper production – devices that are already on the market.
The vast majority of 33,500 conventional boilers burn natural gas, but some use biomass, oil or coal – each generates its own cocktail of pollutants. Nitrogen oxides, for example, damage the respiratory system and aggravates conditions such as asthma. Sulfur oxides also attack the lungs and react with other compounds from the atmosphere to form particles. PM 2.5 can cause lung cancer and exacerbate affections as a chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. “It is a widespread and mortal pollutant that can bypass the defenses of our body – the particles are so small that they can enter your lungs and go into blood circulation,” said Barrett. “From there, they can have an impact on heart function, contribute to a stroke and a whole series of other consequences.”
When nitrogen oxides mix in the atmosphere, they also form ozone. “It is an colorless, odorless and corrosive gas that we sometimes explain as having the same effect as a sunburn on the skin, but imagine it in your respiratory paths,” said Barrett. “It creates inflammation, contributes to whistling and cough breathing, shortness of breath, a seal of your chest and can trigger asthma attacks.”
Worse still, warmer temperatures naturally produce more ozone, which combines with what is produced by industrial pollution. At the same time, these operations spit greenhouse gases, which leads to more warming, and more ozone formation, and so on. Add to this the fact that forest fires aggravate as the planet heats up, spitting smoke charged with PM 2.5 but also forms even more ozone as it moves in the atmosphere. (Last week, scientists estimated that the massive flames in Los Angeles in January may have killed 15 times more people than the official count, taking into account the deaths that could have been inhaled to smoke but were not recognized as such.)
Industrial air pollution therefore does not occur in a vacuum – it joins an atmosphere crowded with toxic many other sources. But unlike the difficulties in fighting forest fires which become more intense and massive of the year, a factory can simply exchange a heat pump for its fossil fuel boiler. This would provide long -term atmospheric relief and immediate relief to the surrounding community: low -income neighborhoods where these operations are often seated suffer from much higher pollution charges than richer neighborhoods.
All in all, the report revealed that the adoption of industrial heat pumps would mean that the country could avoid 13 million days of lost school and 3.4 million days of work lost, because more clear air causes less asthma asthma and other health problems. “My usual angle for heat pumps always concerns the climatic advantage – which is there, of course, and is a large part of the conversation,” said Gernot Wagner, climate economist at Columbia Business School, who was not involved in the report. “I think the surprise, in many ways, is how much health benefits are really.”
Like any technology, heat pumps become cheaper and more effective as adoption increases. Although this modeling has examined the devices for low and medium temperature processes, it did not include those for high temperature processes, which are still developing. These would further reduce pollution and emissions. “Technology is absolutely not new. But its effectiveness, its adoption, its preparation for the market, is definitively emerging,” said Andrew Hoffmeister, main research analyst in the industrial program of the US non -profit for an economical energy economy, which was not involved in research. “And that’s where the momentum is being built.”
Now it’s just a question of maintaining this momentum. Several states, including New York, California and Colorado, have funded industries to adopt heat pumps, said Hoffmeister, and others could provide even more. Associated with more strict air quality laws, which could encourage more installations to make the change. “The potential of technology cannot be underestimated,” said Hoffmeister. “It is not a sexy and silver solution that has just been developed and will solve everything. It is a robust and well -documented technology. ”
