New Federal Funds Can Help Companies Invest in Industrial Heat Pumps

Industrial heat pumps can help cut planet-warming emissions from many manufacturing processes and reduce companies’ operating expenses, yet their big upfront costs have been a major hurdle to widespread use. New federal funds, now becoming available, could be a tipping point in enabling companies to invest in this critical technology.
Like heat pumps in homes, industrial heat pumps (IHP) move heat from a relatively low-temperature source to a higher-temperature destination. They are efficient and vital for electrifying industrial process heat, which is used to prepare materials and produce manufactured goods. If widely deployed by U.S. companies in several target sectors, currently existing IHPs could reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 30–43 million tons per year—the equivalent of 3–4% of total carbon emissions from manufacturing.