The New York State Energy Research and Development Authority – NYSERDA – recently issued a report on clean energy progress in the state during 2024. The report highlighted continued and increased growth in heat pumps, electric vehicles, and solar energy.
Heat pumps, which provide both heating and cooling, have outsold gas furnaces countrywide for three straight years. Air source heat pumps outsold gas furnaces by 37%. This does not include ground source heat pumps, also known as geothermal heat pumps. New York offers Clean Heat rebates to offset the cost of installing heat pumps.
2024 was a good year for electric vehicles in New York with 90,221 new registrations. More than 60 car models are eligible for New York’s Drive Clean state rebates.
New York achieved its Climate Act goal of having 6,000 MW of distributed solar power in October. The state is expected to have more than 10,000 MW of distributed solar by 2030.
Nationwide, solar energy represented 64% of all the new electricity generation capacity installed in 2024, up from 55.5% in 2023. Utility-scale solar generation in the lower 48 states was 36% higher in the summer of 2024 than in summer 2023.
NYSERDA’s report points out that converting to clean energy technologies can bring multiple benefits that include energy efficiency, cost savings, and reduced greenhouse gas emissions and air pollution.
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Heat Pumps, Electric Vehicles, and Solar Scale Up Through 2024
Photo, posted April 6, 2017, courtesy of Stephen Yang / The Solutions Project via Flickr.
Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio
