Jennie Dusheck, TCA
The point of building electrification is to convert heating and cooking in homes from natural gas to electricity. With more and more solar electricity and a coming buildout of wind energy, electricity in California is getting cleaner and cleaner. In fact, even electricity generated by burning natural gas is massively more efficient and less polluting than burning that same gas in millions of home appliances. For the sake of the climate (and our health) need to get natural gas out of our homes.
What’s so bad about natural gas? Natural gas is mostly methane, a molecule (CH4) that warms the atmosphere 85 times more than CO2 over a 20-year period. In other words, an ounce of methane is like 85 ounces of CO2. Methane is a tiny molecule with a big impact on global warming. When methane burns in your home, it releases energy (for heating living rooms and bathwater), H2O and CO2. But on the way from the fracking fields to your gas stove, methane leaks nearly every step along the way.
The amount of methane in the atmosphere is skyrocketing, as shown in this diagram of atmospheric methane rise since the year 1010. Because the world has so little time before we pass 1.5 – 1.8 degrees of global warming, it’s critical to focus on this major source of short-term warming.
What can we do? People sometimes argue about whether we need to address climate change systemically or as individually. We need to do both.
Systemic change The federal government has addressed methane warming in several ways that are systemic. For example, NASA satellites can now monitor major sources of methane emissions. Furthermore, under the federal Methane Emissions Reduction Program and the proposed Waste Emissions Charge, the EPA will charge the oil and gas sector for its methane emissions, creating an incentive for the industry to eliminate methane leaks. Finally, both the federal government and many local governments offer rebates and tax breaks for individuals who take steps to electrify their homes.
Individual action – Now the ball is in our court
At the individual level, it’s now up to those of us who can to help make electrification happen. As we individually stop using gas, that means fewer gas pipelines & appliances leaking methane. Ideally, neighbors might work to electrify, creating the opportunity to “prune” leaky natural gas lines from whole blocks of houses.
Health benefits of electrification
When we electrify, we immediately help ourselves. Gas appliances emit nitrogen dioxide, fine particulates, carbon monoxide, benzene (a carcinogen), formaldehyde, and other toxins that increase the risk of lung diseases, heart diseases, cancers, and even dementia. The more time we spend breathing this indoor air pollution, the worse for us.
Water heaters and furnaces are supposed to be vented outside, though they aren’t always. But gas stoves are right in the kitchen, the center of most family life. Gas stoves account for about 13% of cases of childhood asthma nationwide and increase the risk of respiratory illness generally by about 20%. A fan over the stove can reduce a family’s exposure to toxic emissions, but a fan only removes some emissions and many people don’t turn on the fan when they cook. Finally, gas stoves are a leading cause of house fires, severe burns, and death.
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1. Is propane a greenhouse gas? Surprisingly, no. But propane is a byproduct of the oil and gas industry, so when we buy propane we are indirectly contributing to methane emissions.