April 2018. Government of Ontario. As Ontario’s buildings and homes account for almost a quarter of the province’s carbon emissions, it makes sense that many of these efforts should be concentrated on them, specifically home heating solutions, and should involve homeowners directly. A new study, The Future of Home Heating, by MaRS’ Advanced Energy Center in collaboration with Enbridge Gas Distribution Inc. shows that a smart, hybrid dual fuel option offers a crucial pathway away from fossil fuel-only home heating.
MaRS and Enbridge worked with a steering committee composed of The Atmospheric Fund, Natural Resources Canada, the Independent Electricity System Operator (IESO), and Alectra Utilities to compare the economic, electrical demand and emission-reducing performance of different electrification options for heating. The report looked at three different scenarios each using air source heat pumps in both retrofit and new homes. The scenarios included one full-electric scenario using electric resistance heaters as a supplemental heat source, and two hybrid scenarios using gas appliance as backup.
TAF’s Emissions Quantification Manager Jimmy Lu provided crucial guidance and feedback through his involvement in the study’s steering committee, leveraging TAF’s emissions quantification and heat pump expertise.
Read the blog post here.