The UK needs to go all-in on heat pumps
By
Trent Wolbe
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At Harvest, we talk a lot about heating and hot water because together, they account for about 10% of global emissions. That’s a huge problem—and one we’re here to help solve.
And the UK has decided to address this head-on. The UK’s Climate Change Committee (CCC) has set a bold target: by 2040, half of all homes should be heated with heat pumps to stay on track for net zero by 2050. It’s an ambitious target, but it’s also necessary. Cutting emissions from home heating isn’t optional if we want to move away from fossil fuels.
The biggest hurdle is still upfront costs. Heat pumps remain more expensive than gas boilers in some places, but other countries—including Ireland and colder European nations—have shown that adoption can scale quickly with the right policies. Their success proves that when governments put real incentives in place, shift market structures, and commit to cost reductions, heat pumps become the clear choice.
Despite years of political turbulence, the UK and other European nations have kept their climate policies moving forward. This is because, unlike the US, Europe doesn’t treat climate action as a political issue—they treat it as a priority. When governments fail to engage in climate policy, they don’t just slow progress; they fall behind the rest of the world. Physics doesn’t care about politics.
In the US, the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) should have been a turning point for heat pump adoption, but attacks from the Trump administration and its allies have undermined its impact. Meanwhile, states are left to pick up the slack, creating an uneven path forward. California is making real progress, aggressively expanding heat pump adoption, and many other states—including New York, Colorado, Maine, Washington, and New Mexico—are stepping up as strong champions of heat pumps and climate policy. While federal opposition creates challenges, these states are making real progress in accelerating clean energy adoption and reducing reliance on fossil fuels.
The UK’s approach isn’t flawless, but at least they recognize that scaling heat pump adoption is essential to a net-zero future. The U.S. needs to get serious about this too. The climate crisis isn’t waiting, and we can’t afford to let political dysfunction slow us down.
Read more about the UK efforts in this BBC article here.
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