Europe's heat pumps replace Middle East gas imports twice over (euronews.com)

Can someone explain to me in simple terms what the deal is with heat pumps - and why we have not implemented them on a large scale before? It sounds to me like a "reverse refridgerator", so the technology surely has been around for a couple of decades at least?

The war with Iran has done what US policy refused to do --- promote cleaner (and cheaper) energy.