Some facts I have learnt
The Global Warming Potential (GWP) was developed to allow comparisons of the global warming impacts of different gases. Specifically, it is a measure of how much energy the emissions of 1 ton of a gas will absorb over a given period of time, relative to the emissions of 1 [US] ton of carbon dioxide (CO2).
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Nitrous Oxide (N2O) has a GWP 265–298 times that of CO2 for a 100-year timescale.
— United States Environment Protection Agency
According to the UK Government's Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (DEFRA, 2021):
With the average UK annual household gas usage being 12,000 kWh (UK Power, n.d.)
A heat pump that has a Coefficient of Performance (CoP) of three can create three kWh of heat from every one kWh of electricity. Therefore, compared to average gas usage, a heat pump with a CoP of three would use 4,000 kWh of electricity annually (Viessmann, n.d.)
The UK Government is looking for everyone to install Heat Pumps for home heating and will be banning the installation of gas combi boilers.
But, from my calculations, heat pumps could provide little benefit to the environment in comparison to gas central heating. Where is the major benefit I am missing?
References
DEFRA (2021) UK Government GHG Conversion Factors for Company Reporting https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/greenhouse-gas-reporting-conversion-factors-2021
UK Power (n.d.) Average gas and electric usage for UK households https://www.ukpower.co.uk/home_energy/average-household-gas-and-electricity-usage
Veissmann (n.d.) Do heat pumps use a lot of electricity? https://www.viessmann.co.uk/heating-advice/Do-heat-pumps-use-a-lot-of-electricity