"These ultra-efficient systems could massively reduce our emissions from heating and cooling buildings.
Many states have made ambitious goals to cut their greenhouse gas emissions in an attempt to meet the targets established by the Paris Climate Agreement. California wants to be carbon neutral by 2045, New York is aiming for a 100 percent cut from 1990 emissions by 2050, and Florida has committed to an 80 percent reduction over the same time frame.
But if we’re going to have any shot at meeting these goals and averting some of the worst consequences of climate change, we need look within—within our buildings, that is. Buildings are the source of 40 percent of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions, and more than a third of those emissions comes from heating, cooling and ventilation. Heating our indoor spaces is responsible for a tenth of annual emissions. Most structures today use natural gas, oil, or propane to stay warm, creating millions of small sources of carbon pollution with a big cumulative punch.
Luckily, there’s another option already available: heat pumps. Some suck heat from the air, others from the ground, and they’re all more efficient and less polluting than your clunky gas furnace."
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