October 26, 2021. A new economy-wide technical analysis released by Southern California Gas Co. (SoCalGas) underscores the essential role that clean fuels like hydrogen and renewable natural gas (RNG) will play in a carbon-neutral California. SoCalGas’ The Role of Clean Fuels and Gas Infrastructure in Achieving California’s Net Zero Climate Goal examines the complexity of reaching 100% net zero emissions in California by 2045, and for the first time offers detailed solutions that include the clean fuels infrastructure needed to support and accelerate decarbonization efforts. The analysis also offers solutions for the hard-to-abate transportation and industrial sectors and supports existing state climate and energy policies, including resilient and reliable electrification.
“Climate change and the imperative to reduce and eliminate greenhouse gas emissions are driving a transformation of our nation’s entire energy system,” said SoCalGas President Maryam Brown. “Across the United States, electric and gas utilities are re-envisioning how they deliver the energy Americans need. SoCalGas, having set the goal to achieve net zero carbon emissions in everything we do by 2045, is leading the effort in California to accelerate a more equitable and affordable energy transition and to help establish Los Angeles as North America’s first clean fuels hub.”
SoCalGas’ technical analysis highlights that a clean fuels network made, in part, by leveraging existing gas infrastructure to deliver clean fuels and to manage carbon can allow California to achieve its net zero goals more affordably and with less risk than pursuing other pathways.
Key takeaways from the new technical analysis include:
- Electrification combined with clean fuels, carbon management, and technologies like fuel cells deliver the most affordable, resilient, and technologically proven path to full carbon neutrality.
- California, by leveraging the gas system to deliver clean fuels and to manage carbon, can reach 100% net zero goals more affordably, more equitably, and with less risk of power disruptions, customer conversion barriers, and technological limitations.
- Rapidly scaling up clean fuels initiatives today is vital to putting a clean fuels network in place in time to help California meet its climate goals. The faster stakeholders can collaboratively act to expand and accelerate clean fuels initiatives, the quicker California can decarbonize.
The technical analysis supporting The Role of Clean Fuels and Gas Infrastructure in Achieving California’s Net Zero Climate Goal builds on existing climate models used in similar studies previously commissioned by the California Air Resources Board and the California Energy Commission. In addition, the modeling work and results of the technical analysis released today were independently verified by scientists at leading research institutions.