Residential heat pumps deserve a lot of credit for driving the decarbonization train, but home-scaled systems are no match for industrial processes that require steam. The US Department of Energy has been on the prowl for a solution and it has just made a $145 million bet on a new breed of steam-generating heat pumps aimed like a dagger at the heart of fossil-fueled boilers.The modern industrial economy is awash in steam.
The proposal covered facilities burning coal, oil, or biomass. For the time being, they left out gaseous fuels like natural gas and propane, as well as various kinds of solid waste. For those of you with time to do the reading, links to all of EPA’s boiler regulations, including larger utility-scale operations, can be foundThe point is that there are a lot of moving parts in the steam-generating industry, and cleanup will take a while.
Electricity generally costs more than gas, but Skyvent states that its heat pumps operate at triple the efficiency of gas boilers, which results in lower costs. Skyven already seems to have a winning sales pitch, and the Biden-Harris administration made it even more winning on March 25, when the US Department of Energy announced a new $6 billion round of funding forSteam-Generating Heat Pumps for Cross-Sector Deep Decarbonizationheat-as-a-service model
“By deploying this technology across multiple sectors, Skyven would demonstrate expertise and economic viability of this technology solution that can be replicated among diverse heat-using manufacturers,” the Energy Department notes. “RTC Members recognize the growing demand and necessity for renewable heating and cooling and the urgent need to meet this demand in a manner that delivers sustainable, cost-competitive options at scale.”