Renewable energy-driven heat pumps integrated with synergistic thermal-electrical energy storage for decarbonizing building heating

Abstract Buildings contribute 37% of carbon emissions and 32% of energy consumption worldwide, particularly building heating accounts for almost half of energy consumption, underscoring the critical role of decarbonizing building heating systems. The transition from fossil fuel to renewable energy is a critical route to achieve carbon neutrality of building heating. This Perspective centers around the technological roadmaps of building heating towards carbon neutrality and analyzes how to promote building heating to a more sustainable and efficient future. We develop techno-economic models of renewable energy-based building heating with energy storage, and reveal the superiority of synergistic energy storage between thermal energy storage (TES) and electrical energy storage (EES). We further identify the specific configurations of TES and EES and propose a next-generation building heating system by integrating solar photovoltaic-thermal technologies, heat pump and synergistic TES-EES aiming to realize maximum energy efficiency and carbon emission reduction. Finally, we analyze the challenges and strategies for developing next-generation building heating system. This Perspective provides a sustainable pathway toward carbon neutrality for global building decarbonization.