Heat pumps use electricity which mostly comes from burning coal. So, great, he's dumping less CO2 -- 273 TONNES -- into the atmosphere but still dumping 273 tonnes. How much would it cost to make that heat pump zero carbon emissions? Would the price be all that attractive if he had to pay for mitigating all his emissions?
I installed a super de duper high efficiency gas furnace about 20 years ago and keep my house temperature at about 60 F during the winter. It still burns natural gas. Is the answer to switch to another appliance that burns less but still dumps tonnes of CO2 into the atmosphere over time? If that's the case then we should be looking at the majority of people who can't afford those appliances and come up with a way to get them a better system too. But is that really the answer?
Doesn't it just slow down the rate of climate change? Not only that, but are these appliances really solving the problem or just making ignorant people like me think I'm doing something that I really am not. If that's the case then I'm being used as a tool to enrich somebody else. Fuck that.
My point is, these rebates look to be marketing gimmicks that sell more appliances and people like the rebates because they make a good product cheaper. Without a comprehensive systematic plan with the goal of zero CO2 or at least non-harmful rate of carbon emissions, I'm dubious of these gimmicks. Also, I don't blame you, I'm no saint and I see what I'm doing better now than I did 20 years ago when I went with that furnace. So, what's the objective to address human caused climate change, how do we achieve it, how much will it cost and how do we pay for it? I don't know and that's what I'm asking.