Most energy in industry is used to provide heat. The most efficient way to decarbonize heat is to use heat pumps powered by green electricity. Which l

Hotter Heat Pumps could help Electrify Industrial Heat

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2023-05-24 12:30:03

Most energy in industry is used to provide heat. The most efficient way to decarbonize heat is to use heat pumps powered by green electricity. Which leads to the question: What temperatures can they achieve?

Industrial heat is a major consumer of fossil fuels. Estimates are that around two-thirds of the energy used in industrial applications is used to generate heat.

Industrial heat applications are diverse, and so are the temperatures - from relatively low-temperature use cases like drying food to extremely high temperatures required to melt metals or produce cement.

Electrification of heat will play a major role in the decarbonization of industrial heat. But different needs will require different electric heating technologies.

Heat pumps are a particularly efficient way to generate heat from electricity. They can achieve something that sounds like it violates the laws of physics: They can provide more energy than they consume.

Of course, no technology can violate the laws of thermodynamics. Heat pumps achieve their efficiency by taking energy from a lower temperature source. In the simplest case, this can be outside air. By compressing a heat carrier, they increase the energy per volume and therefore the temperature.