Pumping into a cool future:electrocaloric materials for zero-carbon refrigeration

Existing commercial heat pumps,such as air conditioners(A/C)and refrigerators,possess a coefficient of performance(COP)up to and in some cases even higher than 6.However,most existing space heating techniques rely heavily on fossil fuels as their direct(burning)or secondary(electric heating)energy supply.Space heating is responsible for 45%of building emissions.