Replacing ACs with heat pumps: A backdoor way to decarbonize heating

Heat pumps are often touted as an efficient way to decarbonize home heating. But a new approach to driving their adoption is on the rise in the U.S. Over the past few months, federal energy-efficiency regulators and state and city building-code overseers have begun to promote policies aimed at encouraging people to replace their existing central air-conditioning systems with heat pumps. Although heat-pump sales already outpaced gas furnace sales last year, new research…


Wind and solar are outperforming coal on US grid this year

The U.S. electric grid is dangerously dependent on fossil fuels — but the century-long reign of the country’s dirtiest power source may be ending. In the first half of this year, wind and solar generated more power than coal in the U.S., per data from Ember. Wind and solar produced 343 terawatt-hours (TWh) total between January and June 2023, while coal produced 296 TWh over the same period. Just five years ago, coal’s share of…