Natural gas will play an important role in enabling this “smart” vision whether through traditional uses in space and water heating, or in the production of electricity inside of or nearer to homes and businesses.  As part of the state-wide New Jersey Clean Energy Program, natural gas utilities in that state administer Pay for Performance, which provides incentives of up to $1 million to industrial and commercial customers for purchasing and installing Combined Heat and Power (CHP) units.  This emerging technology is expected to become increasingly prevalent as an innovative way to enhance energy efficiency through recovery and productive use of waste heat, thus reducing both demand on the electric power grid and carbon dioxide emissions. And although it’s not yet ready for the mass market, even micro CHP (the smaller version designed for residential use) is beginning to earn some attention.

In short, Chairman Wellinghoff is definitely on to something “smart” and natural gas will be key to his vision becoming a reality.

A great example of state-level energy efficiency activity was recently announced by the New York State Public Service Commission (NYPSC).  As part of its Energy Efficiency Portfolio Standard (EEPS) proceeding, the Commission has approved a natural gas efficiency equipment program for its nearly 4.3 million residential gas customers.  Under this action, more than $24 million will be made available for rebates promoting the purchase and installation of efficient, cost-effective, furnaces, boilers and other equipment.  This is great news for consumers, as it will provide a direct financial incentive to improve energy efficiency in their homes – savings that come in addition to the money they will save over time in reduced energy costs.

The action taken by the NYPSC recognizes the important role local utilities will continue to serve in delivering energy savings to residential customers.

The utilities participating in this initiative include Central Hudson Gas and Electric Corporation, Consolidated Edison Company of New York, Inc., Corning Natural Gas Corporation, KeySpan Energy of Long Island, KeySpan Energy of New York, New York State Electric and Gas Corporation, National Grid, Orange and Rockland Utilities, Inc., Rochester Gas and Electric Corporation, and St. Lawrence Gas Company.

Here is a powerpoint from Chris Voell of the Environmental Protection Agency titled, “Renewable Biogas: Environmental Protection and Energy Independence.” You can download the full pdf here. It’s a large file so it may take a moment.

I’ve pulled out some interesting graphics and stats for a quick view.

Here’s a slide showing the projects across the country.

Some stats on the projects include:

• 450 electricity generation
• 135 direct use (medium Btu)
• 25 high Btu pipeline quality gas
  • AR, CA(2), GA(2), KS, LA, MI(2), NY, OH(3), PA(8), TN, TX(3), WI
  • Less than 5% of total projects
• GHG reductions from currently operating methane capture and use projects:
  • Direct Methane – 3.5 million metric tons CH4/year
  • Avoided CO2 – 9 million metric tons CO2e/year
  • Total Reductions – 80+ million metric tons CO2e/year
• Environmental equivalent to reducing CO2 emissions from:
  • More than 200,000,000 barrels of oil consumed, or
  • Nearly 16,000,000 passenger vehicles, or
  • Burning more than 450,000 railcars’ worth of coal.
• Energy equivalent to:
  • Powering more than 915,000 homes and heating more than 700,000 home

The presentation also includes some bullets on different case studies like the one from Fresh Kills Landfill, NY pictured above.

Fresh Kills Landfill, NY

• Began operation in the late 1970s
• LFG-to-high Btu pipeline quality
  • Selexol (chemical technology)
• Largest plant of its kind until 2007

Valley and Monroeville Landfills, PA

• Began operation in 2006
• LFG-to-high Btu pipeline quality (2 plants)
  • Membrane technology
• Delivery of gas to:
  • low-pressure local distribution pipeline
  • high-pressure gas transmission line

Scenic View Dairy, MI

• Began operation in 2007
• Dairy farm digester (3,500 head)
• Manure biogas-to-high Btu pipeline quality
  • Pressure swing absorption technology
• Small scale – 150 cfm of biogas

Hilarides Dairy, CA

• Began operation in 2009
• Dairy farm digester (9,000 head)
• Manure biogas-to-vehicle fuel
  • Pressure swing absorption technology
• Biomethane is compressed for use as vehicle fuel-displacing diesel fuel.

Renee Rippchen left a great comment on my last post. As I told her, I like hearing about how people are creating energy around this issue, so let me know what you’re doing.

Renewable natural gas is a biogas which has been upgraded to a quality similar to natural gas. One of the attractions of renewable natural gas is that by upgrading the quality to that of natural gas, it becomes possible to distribute the gas to customers via the existing gas grid, and burned within existing appliances.

We’ve had biogas on our radar for a while. A growing number of our members are interested in this energy option.

As are some really big energy players like Royal Dutch Shell.  This energy giant announced just last week their decision to discontinue investment in renewable technologies such as wind, solar and hydro power because they feel they are not economic. Instead Shell plans to invest more in biofuels – like renewable natural gas — which do not use food-based crops and are less harmful to the environment.

I’ve actually written on biogas before on this blog but here’s a little more information. Biogas originates from biogenic material and is a type of biofuel. One type of bio-gas is produced by fermentation of biodegradable materials such as biomass, manure or sewage, municipal waste, green waste and energy crops. The other principal type of biogas is wood gas which is created by gasification of wood or other biomass.

Biogas can be used as a low-cost fuel for any heating purpose, such as cooking. Biogas can also be used in modern waste management facilities where it can be used to run any type of heat engine, to generate either mechanical or electrical power. Biogas can be compressed, like natural gas, and used to power motor vehicles.

Leave a comment if you have questions on biogas and I’ll be happy to try and answer them. I’ll also write later about my thoughts on the briefing. We are excited about the opportunity to continue educating others about the options we have using renewable natural gas and our existing distribution network.

U.S. President Barack Obama signs the ARRA into law on February 17, 2009 in Denver, Colorado. Vice President Joe Biden stands behind him.

For those working in the business of energy distribution, funds that have been tagged for energy efficiency provide a vital infusion of capital in an area that has great potential for lowering economic burdens on consumers, reducing greenhouse gas emissions, and reducing American dependence on foreign fuels. Three ARRA appropriations in particular present great opportunities for natural gas utilities to partner with state and local governments to change the way homes and buildings use energy in the coming years:

• State Energy Efficiency Programs: $3.1 billion for state energy efficiency programs will be conditioned on governors providing assurances that consideration be being given to important reforms that support advances in the efficiency of energy use. These include progress in implementing rate policies- such as revenue decoupling – that will help align the business interests of energy distribution companies with the interests of American consumers and the Obama administration. States must also adopt the highest residential and commercial codes in effect and guarantee they’ll get the funds moving quickly by prioritizing existing energy efficiency programs.

• Weatherization Assistance: $5 billion will augment the currently funded Weatherization Assistance Program, which helps American homeowners to retain more of the energy they pay for – for some this means a few dollars saved on their energy bill, for others it means the difference between a warm or a cold place to call home. In the natural gas industry alone, we’ve seen impressive gains in this area: the average home uses 32 percent less natural gas now than it did in 1980. Since about a third of these gains were realized as a result of tighter building shells and better insulation, the $5 billion that has been appropriated for this purpose (22 times the budget of the last appropriation) could have a truly remarkable impact on energy use and carbon emissions in this country.

• State Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grants: ARRA authorizes the appropriation of $3.2 billion for these grants. While they have great potential (a few billion dollars worth of it), this type of grant has yet to be defined. The funding of this line item is also a good example of the sea change that has moved to encompass “energy efficiency and conservation” in past years: funds for this program were authorized in the Energy Independence and Security Act (EISA) of 2007 but had not – until now -been appropriated under any previous congress.

The magnitude of these funds and the pace planned for putting them into action represents a challenge for the existing systems in place to allocate and implement energy efficiency programs.  The effectiveness of this influx of funding will require collaborative efforts between state and local governments, utilities, consumer groups and service providers.  Rapid transfer of best practices from existing to new programs will be important as well.

Targeting economies of scale to get the most out of these programs will be necessary. In short, we will need to heed President Obama’s charge to his administration regarding implementation of these policies:  Think Bold.

AGA members are engaged, to do just that. To track overall progress on ARRA implementation, check online at recovery.gov.  For useful resources for natural gas utilities, regulators and service providers, see our website.

Here’s the scoop.  Natural gas is comprised primarily of methane, which can be produced through two different natural processes.  Traditional natural gas comes from methane that forms underground by geologic pressure over millions of years – this is the process that makes it a conventional fossil fuel.  Renewable natural gas, on the other hand, is comprised of methane that is being produced and released continuously from the decomposition of organic materials found in places like swamps, manure bins, and landfills.  Once purified and upgraded, both sources of methane can be used as the same fuel we know and rely upon to heat water, cook food, and warm our homes and businesses.

So what’s so great about renewable natural gas?  Plenty. Let’s consider the following points.

A vat of liquid cow manure at the Vintage Dairy Biogas Project. The gas produced is injected into PG&E’s pipeline, where it will be shipped to a power plant in Northern California.

It’s abundant. A 1998 U.S. Department of Energy study estimated that, worldwide, between 25 and 37 quadrillion Btu of methane (between 25 and 37% of annual energy usage in the U.S.)  is released each year into the atmosphere due to natural decomposition of organic material.  The study predicts that 6% of all natural gas used in the U.S. could be displaced by encouraging production of naturally occurring renewable natural gas.

It’s clean. When burned for energy, biogas has the same low-carbon properties as natural gas, but with an added unique benefit.  When captured for conversion into renewable natural gas, methane that would otherwise have entered directly into the atmosphere ultimately is combusted resulting in the release of a much less-harmful greenhouse gas.  In other words, the heat-trapping (or greenhouse) effect resulting from burned methane is less potent than that resulting from directly-released methane, so capturing these gases for biogas production is a positive step towards global warming mitigation.

It’s versatile. Once biogas is purified to pipeline quality standards, it can be used in place of traditional natural gas.  Whereas other renewable fuels, such as ethanol, can require the construction of new infrastructure in order to bring them to our everyday lives, biogas can be distributed and used wherever natural gas is used.

Thanks to relentless technological progress, doors are opened daily to new sources of fuel for our energy-intensive lifestyles.  What is it that makes an energy source renewable?  In the case of renewable natural gas, it can be sustainably produced as a product of our waste-producing (landfills, agricultural processes and animal farms) lifestyle.  Now that’s efficient.

As with other “renewable” energy sources, renewable natural gas is not yet ready to displace large amounts of fossil fuels, but it does have serious potential as a alternative fuel source.  And you thought natural gas was just a boring fossil fuel option.

Each year, AGA surveys its member natural gas utilities to determine what they are doing to help customers use natural gas more responsibly.  Ways in which these utilities encourage responsible energy use include offering cash rebates for upgrades to more efficient appliances, providing  tools to help customers understand their energy use, and supplying information about what changes a customer can make to his home or business to use energy smartly.

This year’s results demonstrate that utilities and their customers are taking energy efficiency seriously, and that their actions are having an impact.  In 2007:

• Nearly $329 million was budgeted to help customers use natural gas more efficiently.

• Energy savings achieved through natural gas energy efficiency programs were enough to offset 0.6 million tons of carbon.

• Programs administered by utilities helped customers reduce the amount of natural gas they use in their home by an average of 9 percent.

For consumers of natural gas, these programs are helpful in reducing energy bills without sacrificing the comfort or productivity of homes and businesses.  For all of us, they help contribute to a cleaner, greener planet.

For a link to the full survey report, and related information about natural gas utilities and energy efficiency, please click here.