AGA releases new study on the role of natural gas in meeting zero carbon goals

Published on February 10, 2022 by Dave Kovaleski


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The American Gas Association (AGA) released a new report this week that details how natural gas will be essential to meeting the country’s net-zero carbon emissions goals.

The report — called Net-Zero Emissions Opportunities for Gas Utilities – was introduced at a media event on Feb. 8 by AGA President and CEO Karen Harbert along with AGA Chair Kim Greene, who is chair, president, and CEO at Southern Company Gas. It highlights the advantages of gas technologies and distribution infrastructure and includes several available pathways to meet emissions reductions plans.

“Our industry is proud that we have made significant progress on the climate change commitments made two years ago,” Greene said. “We knew then what we know now, climate change is a defining challenge across the globe, and this industry and natural gas are part of the solution. That’s why we’re investing $95 million every day in infrastructure upgrades. Gas infrastructure will continue to unlock innovative solutions to meet our environmental goals—we are living up to our commitments, and we have no plans on slowing down.”

The report said a pathway that includes natural gas and the vast utility delivery infrastructure offer opportunities to incorporate renewable and low-carbon gases, help minimize customer impacts, maintain high reliability, improve overall energy system resilience, and accelerate emissions reductions. Further, it found that significant emissions reductions can be realized by accelerating the use of high-efficiency natural gas applications, renewable gases, and methane reduction technologies. Supportive policies and regulatory approaches will be critical.

“To meet our nation’s environmental goals, we must ensure we align rules and regulations with investment opportunities to accelerate innovative technologies and fuels. All sectors of the economy must play a role, and all emissions reduction options should be on the table to help ensure the broad availability of cost-effective and flexible solutions. We are keeping our eyes focused on the future, building on our progress to propel our nation to a cleaner energy future,” Harbert said.

Harbert and Greene outlined seven areas of focus to advance net-zero solutions: energy efficiency and improved energy management, methane mitigation technologies and strategies, advanced gas end-use technologies, renewable and low-carbon fuels, negative emissions technologies, infrastructure modernization, and workforce development.

“This study demonstrates how natural gas and gas infrastructure are not only valuable but essential for building pathways to achieve our ambitious environmental goals. The most practical, realistic way to achieve a sustainable future where energy is clean, as well as safe, reliable and affordable, is to ensure it includes natural gas and the infrastructure that transports it,” Greene said.

The AGA leaders said the industry has already contributed to a cleaner environment, citing a 69 percent reduction in methane emissions since 1990 and a 47 percent reduction in residential emissions per customer since 1971. They said improvements in natural gas efficiency and the growth of renewable energy have led to carbon dioxide emissions from energy sources hitting 30-year lows.

“Americans want affordable, reliable energy and a clean environment, and this industry will be essential to meeting and exceeding those expectations,” Harbert said. “We are delivering cleaner energy every day and ensuring customers have affordable energy they can rely on, especially when storms hit and temperatures drop. These are the tenets on which this industry was built, and no matter the day, we will continue to drive to do more.”