Electrification
Charted: Home Heating Systems in the U.S.
Charted: Home Heating Systems in the U.S.
Fossil fuel combustion for the heating of commercial and residential buildings accounts for roughly 13% of annual greenhouse gas emissions in the United States.
Decarbonizing the U.S. economy requires a switch from fossil fuel-combusting heating solutions to renewable energy sources that generate electricity.
Currently, the majority of new homes in the U.S. still combust natural gas for heating through forced-air furnaces or boilers. Just like cars need to be electric, homes will need to switch to electricity-powered heating systems that use renewable energy sources.
The graphic above uses census data to break down the different heating systems and fuels that are warming the 911,000 single-family homes built in the U.S. in 2020.
Types of Home Heating Systems
Most American homes use one of the following three heating systems:
- Forced-air Furnaces: These typically have a burner in a furnace that is fueled by natural gas. A blower forces cold air through a heat exchanger which warms it up before it flows through ducts that heat the home with air as the medium.
- Heat Pumps: The most common type of heat pumps are air-source heat pumps, which collect hot air from outside the home and concentrate it before pumping it through ducts that heat the air inside. They are usually powered by electricity. During warmer months, heat pumps can reverse themselves to cool the home, transferring hot air from the inside to the outdoors.
- Hot Water/Steam: These systems typically work by boiling water (or generating steam) to the appropriate temperature using gas and sending it through a home’s pipes to radiators that heat the air.
How Home Heating Fuels Have Changed
U.S. home heating has been going through a transition over the last two decades. Electricity has steadily been replacing gas and biofuel/wood-powered home heating systems for new homes, and powers almost half of the heating systems in single-family homes built in 2020.
Here’s how the share of heat sources for new houses changed between 2000 and 2020:
Fuel | 2000 % of Heating for New Homes | 2020 % of Heating for New Homes |
---|---|---|
Gas | 70% | 55% |
Electricity | 27% | 45% |
Other | 4% | 1% |
Percentages may not add to 100 due to rounding.
While electricity’s share has grown since 2000, most American homes are still heated with gas largely because of the fossil fuel’s affordability.
According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), households relying on gas for space heating are expected to spend an average of $746 over the winter months, compared to $1,268 for electricity, and $1,734 for heating oil.
Heating in Newly-Built Houses Today
Of the 911,000 new single-family homes, 538,000 houses installed forced-air furnaces. Of these, 83% or nearly 450,000 homes used gas as the primary heating source, with 16% opting for electrified furnaces. By contrast, 88% of the 353,000 homes that installed heat pumps relied on electricity.
Here’s how the heating systems and fuels break down for single-family homes built in 2020:
System Used | Houses Built in 2020 | % Powered by Gas | % Powered by Electricity | % Powered by Other |
---|---|---|---|---|
Forced-Air Furnace | 538,000 | 83% | 16% | <0.5% |
Heat Pump | 353,000 | 12% | 88% | 0% |
Hot Water/Steam | 8,000 | 89% | 5% | 7% |
Other/None | 12,000 | 12% | 41% | 47% |
Percentages may not add to 100 due to rounding.
Fewer than 1% of new single-family homes used hot water or steam systems, and the majority of those that did relied on gas as the primary fuel. Around 1.3% of new homes used other systems like electric baseboard heaters, smaller space heaters, panel heaters, or radiators.
While gas remains the dominant heating source today, efforts to decarbonize the U.S. economy could further prompt a shift towards electricity-based heating systems, with electric heat pumps likely taking up a larger piece of the pie.
Electrification
Top 20 Countries by Battery Storage Capacity
China holds about two-thirds of global BESS capacity.

Visualizing the Top 20 Countries by Battery Storage Capacity
Over the past three years, the Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) market has been the fastest-growing segment of global battery demand. These systems store electricity using batteries, helping stabilize the grid, store renewable energy, and provide backup power.
In 2024, the market grew by 52%, compared to 25% growth in the EV battery market. Among the top companies in the BESS market are technology giants such as Samsung, LG, BYD, Panasonic, and Tesla.
This graphic highlights the top 20 BESS markets by current and planned grid capacity in gigawatt hour (GWh), based on exclusive data from Rho Motion as of February 2025.
Chinese Dominance
As with the EV market, China currently dominates global BESS deployments, accounting for approximately two-thirds of installed capacity. However, other markets are expected to grow significantly in the coming years, driven by low-cost lithium-ion cells and the expansion of renewable energy capacity.
Currently, China has 215.5 GWh of installed capacity and an ambitious 505.6 GWh project pipeline. The U.S. follows with 82.1 GWh installed and 162.5 GWh planned.
Top BESS Markets | Installed 2024 (GWh) | 2027P |
---|---|---|
🇨🇳 China | 215.5 | 721.2 |
🇺🇸 USA | 82.1 | 244.6 |
🇬🇧 UK | 7.5 | 56.3 |
🇦🇺 Australia | 5.6 | 102.9 |
🇨🇱 Chile | 3.8 | 41.0 |
🇮🇹 Italy | 2.2 | 7.9 |
🇸🇦 Saudi Arabia | 1.3 | 32.4 |
🇿🇦 South Africa | 1.3 | 9.4 |
🇮🇪 Ireland | 1.6 | 2.5 |
🇵🇭 Philippines | 1.0 | 6.1 |
🇯🇵 Japan | 1.0 | 5.0 |
🇩🇪 Germany | 1.0 | 6.2 |
🇰🇷 South Korea | 1.1 | 1.3 |
🇮🇱 Israel | 0.8 | 4.6 |
🇫🇷 France | 0.6 | 1.8 |
🇧🇪 Belgium | 0.7 | 5.3 |
🇺🇿 Uzbekistan | 0.6 | 5.9 |
🇸🇪 Sweden | 0.6 | 1.5 |
🇮🇳 India | 0.5 | 4.3 |
🇨🇦 Canada | 0.3 | 18.3 |
Canada is projected to be the fastest-growing market through 2027, with its cumulative capacity hitting 18.3 GWh—a significant increase from its current 0.3 GWh capacity.
Countries such as Australia (97.3 GWh pipeline), Saudi Arabia (31.1 GWh), and Chile (37.2 GWh) have relatively small current installations but plan substantial expansions. Within Europe, the UK leads with 7.5 GWh of installed capacity and 48.7 GWh in the pipeline, while Italy, Germany, France, and Belgium show steady but more modest growth.
Despite being technological leaders, Japan (4 GWh pipeline) and South Korea (0.3 GWh) have relatively low planned BESS expansions.
According to Rho Motion, China will remain the dominant player in 2027, but its share of the total market is expected to decline to just over 50% based on the current project pipeline.
While the BESS market is expanding, challenges remain, including grid connection bottlenecks and the development of revenue streams in emerging markets.
Electrification
Visualizing Chinese EV Market Share Overseas
Chinese brands accounted for 62% of global EV sales in 2024.

Visualizing Chinese EV Market Share Overseas
China is the undisputed global powerhouse of the EV industry, leading in both domestic sales and overall production. Chinese brands were responsible for 62% of EV global sales in 2024.
This graphic shows the presence of Chinese electric vehicles in other countries, considering total EV sales and market share. This data comes exclusively from Rho Motion’s EV Sales Quarterly Outlook, as of 2024.
Affordable EVs
As the global EV market has expanded, in 2024, over 17 million units were sold. Chinese manufacturers have aggressively pursued international opportunities, offering affordable vehicles that often undercut local competitors.
However, market access has varied significantly across regions. The U.S. and Canada are the only markets where Chinese-made EVs have no presence. The U.S. has taken a firm stance against Chinese EVs, imposing a 100% tariff in 2024, and more recently enacting laws banning Chinese technology in EVs on U.S. roads. Given its deep economic ties with the U.S., Canada followed suit with identical tariffs.
Country | Total EV Sales | Chinese Market Share |
---|---|---|
🇺🇸 U.S. | 1,540,354 | 0% |
🇩🇪 Germany | 577,630 | 4% |
🇬🇧 UK | 571,141 | 7% |
🇫🇷 France | 464,589 | 5% |
🇨🇦 Canada | 246,424 | 0% |
🇧🇪 Belgium | 192,560 | 3% |
🇳🇱 Netherlands | 190,784 | 6% |
🇸🇪 Sweden | 165,256 | 5% |
🇳🇴 Norway | 126,088 | 9% |
🇧🇷 Brazil | 125,624 | 82% |
🇪🇸 Spain | 122,375 | 10% |
🇮🇹 Italy | 121,889 | 6% |
🇯🇵 Japan | 114,129 | 2% |
🇦🇺 Australia | 113,511 | 26% |
🇮🇳 India | 104,426 | 23% |
🇩🇰 Denmark | 103,202 | 8% |
🇲🇽 Mexico | 95,282 | 70% |
🇹🇭 Thailand | 77,250 | 77% |
🇵🇹 Portugal | 72,070 | 8% |
🇮🇱 Israel | 69,595 | 64% |
🇨🇭 Switzerland | 68,407 | 1% |
🇦🇹 Austria | 63,717 | 11% |
🇮🇩 Indonesia | 43,202 | 75% |
🇫🇮 Finland | 37,881 | 2% |
🇮🇪 Ireland | 30,105 | 9% |
🇸🇬 Singapore | 29,521 | 26% |
🇲🇾 Malaysia | 21,798 | 52% |
🇳🇵 Nepal | 12,705 | 74% |
🇳🇿 New Zealand | 10,027 | 15% |
🇨🇱 Chile | 5,604 | 42% |
Europe, by contrast, has been more open to Chinese EVs but remains cautious about protecting its domestic automotive industry. In 2024, following an anti-subsidy investigation, the EU introduced variable BEV import tariffs on specific Chinese automakers of up to an additional 35.3%.
Meanwhile, in countries without a strong domestic auto industry, Chinese EVs have rapidly gained market share. This is especially evident in neighboring Asian countries and in South and Central America, where Chinese manufacturers are expanding aggressively by beginning to build production capacity and capitalizing on the demand for affordable electric vehicles.
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