Webinar: What Does it Mean to Get Off Gas? with Amber Mahone from EThree

​November 14, 2019: What Does it Mean to Get Off Gas? with Amber Mahone from EThree
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We welcomed back to the BDC Presents stage Amber Mahone from EThree to discuss their new report: Natural Gas Distribution in California’s Low Carbon Future: Technology Options, Customer Costs, and Public Health Benefits. The future of natural gas, in the context of meeting the California’s air pollution and climate goals, is an important question for natural gas and electric ratepayers, as well as for policymakers interested in enabling the State’s clean energy transition. A new study from the research firm EThree and University of California Irvine, on behalf of the California Energy Commission, Natural Gas Distributionin California’s Low Carbon Future: Technology Options, Customer Costs, andPublic Health Benefits, has just been released (currently in draft form) looking at the implications of the State's climate policies on the natural gas distribution system and the communities that rely upon it.

The study  evaluates the potential cost, energy infrastructure, and air quality implications of achieving the state’s economywide climate goals with an emphasis on:

1.                  Technology options to decarbonize the natural gas system. Specifically, what are the costs, and resource potential, for renewable natural gas technologies, including biomethane, hydrogen gas and climate-neutral synthetic natural gas? 

2.                  Implications for natural gas customers. What are the potential changes in natural gas demand, rates, and bills associated with meeting California’s climate goals? What are potential strategies to address the equity implications of changes in natural gas rates and utility bills while maintaining the safety and financial viability of the gas system? 

3.                  Outdoor air quality and public health. What are the outdoor air quality and health benefits of meeting California’s climate goals, and what are the air quality implications of reducing GHG emissions from natural gas?
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Webinar Recording