What can I choose in the calculator?

The calculator lets you choose the share of total decentralised heat demand covered by absorption heat pumps in Switzerland in the selected year (2035 or 2050).

Absorption heat pump

Gcaserio, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0)

IMPACT – What are the impacts of Absorption Heat Pumps?

In Switzerland, increasing the share of Absorption Heat Pumps will have the following impacts:

Energy system

Reduce final energy demand slightly.

Likely to increases total fossil fuel demand.

Likely to decrease energy independence and energy security by requiring greater fossil imports.

Environment & Climate

May reduce global CO2 emissions slightly.

Risk of leaks of ammonia or lithium bromide

Society & Economy

Likely to increase the cost of the energy system transition.

Likely to increase the cost of an individual heating system particularly if a ground-heat source system is used.

May worsen balance of payments by substituting oil imports for domestic electricity.

May increase Confederation income from the tax on mineral oil under the current taxation system.

GLOBAL MARKET – What is the global market for Absorption Heat Pumps?

Absorption heat pumps and chillers are best suited to situations where sources of heat are readily available, thus they are currently mostly deployed in industrial applications. Residential absorption heat pumps are still a relatively early stage technology. As they are most relevant to locations without access to the electricity grid but with access to heat, their applicability is inherently limited.

DEFINITION / CONSTRAINTS

DEFINITION - What is an Absorption Heat Pump?

An absorption heat pump is a device that draws heat from the environment and delivers it to a space to be heated at a higher temperature using an evaporation – compression – condensation – expansion cycle. Absorption heat pumps are driven using high grade heat which, in distributed applications would likely come from the combustion of natural gas or heating oil, or possibly geothermal sources.

CONSTRAINTS - What are the key barriers facing Absorption Heat Pumps deployment?

• Absorption heat pumps are best suited to locations without connexion to the electricity grid and access to sources of heat such as geothermal, which limits their applicability.