How To Electrify

Cutting Methane Emissions at Home, in Community, in the World.

In my previous blog, Why Electrify?, I summarized the impact of methane emissions from natural gas, explaining how methane heats up the global climate much faster than carbon dioxide, while dissipating much more quickly. I also described how one third of human-produced methane is emitted by our energy systems. The scientific consensus is that we can reduce those methane emissions with current technology, potentially slowing global warming and avoiding near-term climate tipping points.

In this blog, I share the ways that we, as individuals and as a global society, can cut methane emissions from our energy sources, in our own homes, in our communities, and in our global systems.

What Can We Do…at Home?

At the individual level in our homes, we can cut methane emissions by choosing to install electrical appliances whenever possible—or as gas appliances need replacing—with…

• Electric heat pumps for heating and cooling indoor air (1)
  • Upgraded insulation and windows, when needed, can significantly increase the efficiency of any HVAC system
• All-electric or solar water heaters (2)
  • or all-electric heat pumps that heat/cool both air and water
• Electric stoves (coil or induction) (3, 4)
• Electric clothes dryers (supplementing with a clothesline whenever possible!)

Do research ahead of time on your electrical appliance options so that you are ready to go should an emergency arise, like a failing gas furnace in mid-winter! And remember to consider possible electrical panel upgrades in your calculations.

(Electric cars and vehicles are critical to the larger effort to decarbonize, but since internal combustion engines do not play a direct role in the methane emission cycle, electrifying transportation will be discussed in a future blog!)

What Can We Do…in Community?

At community scale, city, state and regional governments can require that…

• New residential and commercial buildings are built with all electric appliances
  • Numerous cities throughout the nation, along with the entire state of Washington, are already adopting this policy! (5)
    • Exceptions may be made for some sites such as restaurants
  • With no gas pipes needed in new construction, we reduce the risk of methane leakage into the atmosphere by reducing natural gas infrastructure.
• Existing buildings are upgraded to all-electric energy and appliances as quickly as possible
  • Upgrading existing structures is far more challenging, but cities and businesses are implementing innovative solutions, such as entrepreneurial investment in clean energy upgrades in New York City (6, 7)
• Public utilities prioritize reducing, and ultimately replacing, natural gas as an energy source for the electrical grid
  • This includes increasing wind and solar infrastructure, while expanding storage capacity for reliability
  • Reliable geothermal and hydrogen technologies can be added to the mix of sources as those technologies are developed for large scale use

What Is Happening…in the World?

At global scale, the importance of methane reduction has finally become a major focus of governmental agencies and scientific researchers. As a result…

• The Global Methane Pledge was launched at the 2021 U.N. Climate Change Conference in Glasgow (COP26) to address methane emissions
  • Nations agreed to work together to reduce methane emissions from human activities by at least 30% below 2020 levels by 2030 (8, 9)
  • 150 countries have signed on as of November 2022 (10)
• At COP27 the U.S. committed to more aggressively pursue methane reduction
  • the EPA is revising its Emissions Guidelines with the goal of cutting methane emissions to 87% below 2005 levels (11)
• Aerial and satellite monitoring technologies are improving the ability to identify the location and scale of methane emissions around the world, making it easier to find and seal methane leaks in natural gas infrastructure (12)
• Methane capture is a growing field, attracting scientific research and entrepreneurial interest

In Context

We are not going to pull the plug on natural gas and other fossil fuels immediately. We are still dependent on fossil fuels for the majority of global electricity production (80% in December 2021), but every year renewables are expanding their contribution to the electrical grid, and other renewable sources such as geothermal and hydrogen are showing promise. In addition, decentralized renewables are increasingly showing up as solar panels on rooftops, or in community solar or wind farms. (13)

Full decarbonization and clean energy will happen when both ends of the spectrum have removed fossil fuels from the energy equation: when we have removed natural gas systems from our homes and cities, and when we have decarbonized the electrical grid with reliable and renewable clean energy.

The first part of the equation can be accomplished house by house, building by building, city by city. The second part of the equation is underway as local, regional and national systems increasingly take advantage of improvements in renewable energy technology. Once we arrive there, we will have achieved the essential task of decarbonizing our energy system at every level.

In the meantime, let’s do all we can to grab that “low-hanging fruit” of methane reduction!

My next blog: How to Heat Pump

Coming soon: Trashing Methane, Cutting Methane Emissions from Our Waste Disposal Systems

And coming later: Farming for a Cooler Planet; and Solar At Home

Sources

1. PBS Newshour – More Homes Using Heat Pumps as Cheaper as Cheaper Green Alternative to Fossil Fuels (see more heat pump links in the first A Climate Citizen blog: Adventures in Water Heating)
2. US Department of Energy – Selecting a New Water Heater
3. NY Times – Your Induction Stove is the First Step Toward Plugging in the Whole House
4. NY Times – The Case for Induction Cooking, Versus Gas Stoves
5. Sierra Club – California’s Cities Lead the Way on Pollution-Free Homes and Buildings
6. How to Save a Planet – Breaking Buildings’ Addiction to Fossil Fuels (podcast also available on Spotify)
7. Website for BlocPower, New York-based company facilitating all-electric transitions for existing buildings
8. UN Environment Programme – New Global Methane Pledge Aims to Tackle Climate Change
9. International Energy Agency (IEA) – The Global Methane Pledge
10. Methane Matters – Global Methane Pledge Now Has 150 Signatories
11. US EPA – Actions and Notices About Oil and Natural Gas Pollution Standards
12. UN Launches Satellite-Based System to Pinpoint Global Methane Hot Spots
13. Our World in Data, University of Oxford – Energy Mix