News Reporter: Climate Coach: Why we should be sharing heat pumps

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Down-to-earth advice for life on our changing planet.

By Michael J. Coren

Welcome. This week, golden moles and penguins, the world's best nappers. But first, why we should be sharing heat pumps.

We don't all have to buy heat pumps. We can share them.

The quiet English village of Swaffham Prior is pioneering using one big collective heat pump to warm residents' homes.

It's the United Kingdom's first such rural heating network, and a big test for how Britain can get to net-zero emissions without relying on slow and expensive home-by-home retrofits.

The 1.7-megawatt system uses a combination of solar panels, heat pumps, underground storage and electric boilers. It delivers heat via a network of heavily insulated pipes under the streets. Homes that connect to it can tap into the heat via existing radiators and hot water appliances without changing equipment.

So far, about 100 of 300 homes in the village are connected to the system, or ready to be added, reports Reuters. Others are considering joining. Before now, almost all of Swaffham Prior was heated by oil. Switching to heat pumps in this rural area, officials say, was hard because of high initial costs. But thanks to a £3 million government grant and a local government loan, residents can sign up without any upfront payments and cover the system's costs — £12 million ($15 million) — via household bills over 60 years, while saving money.

If successful, the program could help turn around the slow pace of U.K. heat pump installations, which are expected to reach 55,000 this year, far behind the 600,000 annually targeted for 2028.

And it's an idea that the rest of the world will almost certainly need to try if we are going to reach our climate goals.

At the moment, clean technologies are often the province of those with more money than the average citizen. Expecting everyone to pony up equally to solve a common problem is not just unfair, but also unrealistic.

The United States has already begun experimenting with similar models. The Eco Block initiative retrofits entire city blocks of affordable housing. Public housing agencies are investing in heat pumps and induction stoves, moves that pay for themselves and provide savings to taxpayers and tenants.

Have questions for my next column? Write climatecoach@washpost.com. I read all your emails.

Field Sample

Let's take a moment to celebrate the golden mole. Lost to science since 1936, it was recently rediscovered in South African sand dunes.

The golden mole was found using eDNA, a technique that collects and sequences DNA from skin cells creatures shed as they go about their lives. In this case, a team of conservationists and geneticists from the Endangered Wildlife Trust and the University of Pretoria collected sand samples from beaches and dunes on the northwest coast of South Africa.

(Nix Souness*/re:wild)

The blind mole has an iridescent coat sheen and "swims" through sand.

Snapshot

The Geminids meteor shower, set to rain down on Earth Dec. 13 and 14, is the year's best.

The consistently prolific shower means an observer should be able to see more than 60 "shooting stars" per hour before midnight, and as many as 150 per hour between 2 and 3 a.m. local time.

Meteor shower over the Lut Desert in Iran. (Amirreza Kamkar/SpaceWeather.com)

The conditions to view these meteors, probably the dusty remnants of an extinct comet's core, are close to ideal this year with no moon illuminating the sky. The Geminids shower is usually quite bright, with a yellowish tint.

Here's how to watch.

The Second Degree

After my column on how our social circle influences others to go green, many of you wrote in with your own experiences. Matt, a physician in Washington state, found he was able to persuade some people to get a coronavirus shot "if I explained that even if their risk was low, that their elderly relatives would likely not be so lucky," he wrote by email. "To many people, this is understood in the projections for climate change in the next 80 years, but bringing it to the forefront could be a smart marketing move."

Ronda said she wouldn't call herself an "entrepreneur of norms" but is trying to show friends and family how she makes small changes, rather than telling them. "This holiday I'll be gifting detergent sheets, bamboo paper towels & TP, individual hand soap sheets, reusable silicone baggies, and coffee beans in paper bags," she writes. "And these are just a few options."

On another note, it's recipe time again. "I'd appreciate more simple recipes like the lentil recipe you shared some time ago," wrote Diane of Albany, Ore. "I don't enjoy shopping for exotic ingredients or spending much time cooking, so I'm always on the lookout for easy recipes like that one." Send your best recipes to climatecoach@washpost.com. For now, here's a link to the 90-plus lentil recipes in our archive.

On the Climate Front

From The Washington Post:

To protect kids, EPA proposes total removal of lead pipes for the first time.

The government is giving out money for energy upgrades. Here's what to buy before the year is out.

Saudi Arabia and other big fossil fuel entities pledged to cut methane as they try to position themselves as part of the solution.

Renewables and EVs are soaring, but it has not yet been enough to displace fossil fuels.

From elsewhere:

Wyoming, the quintessential coal state, wants to go "carbon negative." Here's why, reports E&E News.

Less than one-third of Americans are ready for a fully electric home, reports Grist. Sixty percent would if they can keep their gas stove.

Reports of an electric vehicle slowdown, says Bloomberg, are grossly exaggerated.

To guard newborn penguins, the AP says, parents sleep for just a few seconds at a time throughout the day.

Richard Lang and Judith Selby Lang have been collecting and "curating" plastic debris from the Pacific Ocean since 1999, looking to start a conversation about petrochemical pollution in our lives.

Their latest work, "Ride-On," a toy ATV atop black plastic trash, is on exhibit in Berkeley, Calif., at the 120710 art space.

"Maybe this is just a dream," Judith writes, "but after years of work in our art studios, we do know the enchantment of creative thinking that leads out into a world where we can transform the mess into meaning."

Send your photos and stories to climatecoach@washpost.com.