By Sheryl Hamlin
At the March 4, 2020 Santa Paula City Council meeting, Maria Ventura, Public Affairs Manager Southern California Gas, presented a path to sustainability, using the SoCalGas pipelines delivering renewable gas either by biomethane or power-to-gas. In using either of these methods, she said, cities would make strides toward the regulatory environment for climate goals and policy as shown below:
Biomethane (biogas)
The biogas process is straightforward and is widely used around the world. There is even a market for trading biogas. The production is described here:
Biomethane is as a green non-fossil source of energy. Biomethane is produced from biogas derived from organic matter (often from sewage, landfill, food waste or distillery waste) which makes it a renewable source of energy. Biogas can be dried and cleaned to remove impurities and upgraded to pure biomethane. Biomethane has a number of environmental benefits, the main one being that the methane produced by organic matter decomposition would be released into the atmosphere if simply left to decompose naturally.
Biomethane Video: watch
The worldwide production of biomethane (biogas) as of 2014
As Ms. Ventura pointed out, SoCalGas owns the pipeline infrastructure and can partner with producers of biogas as easily as those who produce natural gas from petroleum products.
Power-to-Gas
This is a newer concept which is in pilot stages around the world, including Germany, a leader in renewable energy. Read details here: Power to Gas (P2G)
Again, as with the biogas, the SoCalGas pipelines can partner and deliver P2G to consumers.
Balanced Energy Resolution
Ms. Ventura pointed out that with costs approaching $18,000 to convert a home with gas appliances into an all-electric home, this may be prohibitive to many homeowners. The “Balanced Energy Resolution” aims to provide cities with flexibility and price sensitive power solutions. Read the cities who have adopted these resolutions here. She left a sample of such a resolution for the Santa Paula Council.
To watch the video, click here.
To read more about the author, click sherylhamlin dot com
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RNG can be used directly as a vehicle fuel or can be used as a feedstock to produce “green” hydrogen or “green” electricity and still generate LCFS environmental credits.
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