A common critique of the “electrify everything” movement is that it will be near impossible to produce enough clean electricity to replace the fossil fuels used in buildings and transportation and make sure the grid is strong enough to deliver it.

While this concern is valid, there is an important card humanity has in its back pocket to meet this challenge: Heat pumps, which are so efficient that their increased deployment will offset much of the electricity that’s currently used inefficiently. This saved electricity will allow new electrical loads (like cars) seamlessly onto the grid.