New Hampshire and four other New England states received $450 million in grants through the Biden-Harris administration to create a New England Heat Pump Accelerator Work Plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the region.
Heat pumps are devices that use electricity to provide heating and cooling. The devices use the same technology as an air conditioning system, but have reverse valves that can aid in providing heat.
The plan, initiated under the Biden administration’s community-driven solutions to cut climate change across America, will allow residents to avoid natural gas and oil heating systems and instead use electric heat pumps. Currently, more than 50% of New England’s energy comes from burning fossil fuels, mostly natural gas.
The aim of the program is to shift from fossil fuels directly, drive down emissions and lower costs by providing climate-friendly heating and cooling. Heat pumps could cut residential sector greenhouse gas emissions by almost 36% to 64%, according to a recent analysis by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory.
A key element of the program is to make sure the transition to heat pumps is affordable for low-income and middle-income families, and almost 40% of funds will go to such communities.
