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BBC News

Climate love

Communal heat pump networks could be the answer to decarbonising heat in both city high-rises and homes

It's another cold snap and the fields of Cornwall, in south-west England, are blanketed in snow. But down a windy lane, Ceri Simmons' home is toasty warm. Her living room is a jungle of hanging plants and, through the kitchen, glimpses of a wood-lined studio reveal Simmons' job as an aerial-yoga teacher. "It's not just lovely for me to have a warm house, it's also important for my clients," she says.
The remote village of Stithians, close to the most south-westerly tip of the UK mainland, where the Simmons family live has become an unlikely frontier in the race to decarbonise heating. It is piloting a new approach to low-carbon heating which could be key to the rapid scale-up needed worldwide.
The project zooms out from the obstacles facing individual homeowners and designs a heat pump system that can be delivered at scale across streets, towns and cities. In doing so, it could provide a model for urban spaces across the world pondering how to decarbonise their heat systems quickly and effectively.



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49 more agrees trigger social media ads

  • Jordan Edmondson

    77 w

    It's great to see community projects like this catching on!

    1
    • Harrison wambui

      94 w

      Zero carbon...100%

      9
      • Tabitha Kimani

        94 w

        Decarbonizing is key in restoring climate.

        3
        • Daniel Waweru

          94 w

          Superb, this will help in achieving the climate goal of reducing carbon emission

          6
          • Saustine Lusanzu

            94 w

            Ahead zero carbon this is great

            14
            • Joseph Githinji

              94 w

              Amazing, this will help us in realising the zero carbon goal.

              13

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