24 June 2014

NEXT GENERATION HEAT PUMP SYSTEMS R&D BY NEDO / OVERVIEW AND PROSPECTS

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The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry of Japan (METI) has set a target to reduce Japan’s energy consumption by 18% (72 million kilo L of crude oil equivalent) till 2030. To achieve this goal, METI and NEDO jointly started that among 4 sectors- industrial sector, residential and commercial sector, transportation sector and cross-sector, there are 13 technology fields that need to be researched. New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO) claims heat pump as an important cross-sectortechnology,
and conducted industrial high efficiency heat pump using centrifugal compressor
and high performance (high efficiency, high availability in cold climate, downsizing) CO2 heat pump water heater. Through the technological development, NEDO has contributed energy conservation and created new market. For higher efficiency, NEDO is promoting the efficiency of the heat pump equipment itself, and the system as a whole. R&D policies regard
heat pump systems as the followings; 1) Making use of unused heat, 2) Improving the annual efficiency to match the actual HVAC load, 3) Maximizing the use of exchanged heat. This paper describes the overview of Heat Pump R&D projects, as well as its latest activities and prospects.