by David Iaconangelo (E&E News) … But efficiency researchers say activists’ favored alternative to natural gas — electric heat — is still a costlier option for consumers. Mass adoption of electric heating could overload the grid without significant infrastructure upgrades, other analysts warn. And an all-electric push would drag gas utilities into an existential fight, experts say, creating risks to ratepayers and company workforces.
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Meanwhile, building electrification may hinge on a single, silver bullet replacement for fossil fuel heat — electric heat pumps — that can pose technical challenges, analysts say.
“If you’re going to electrify the heating in a building, the logical way to do it is with a heat pump. There aren’t many other options,” said Ron Domitrovic, a program manager in the Electric Power Research Institute’s (EPRI) energy utilization group.
In the Northeast, the stakes are high for determining whether heat pumps can replace fossil fuels. Every New England state, plus New York and New Jersey, has laws requiring 80% emissions reductions by 2050. And the region’s buildings are by far the nation’s most dependent on gas for heating.
“Buildings are really one of our hardest challenges,” said Coakley of NEEP.
But federal and nonprofit electrification researchers see looming problems for the region.
For one, equipping a building with heat pumps can add complex design hurdles, noted Domitrovic of EPRI.
Unlike gas boilers, which burn fuel to create warmth, heat pumps simply transfer outside warmth into a building. By flipping a switch, they can also act as air conditioners.
In cold climates, though, heating demand is often higher than cooling demand. If a heat pump is doing both jobs, it might require a much bigger installation — for heat — than would be otherwise necessary for cooling.
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In general, using the technology for space heating in cold climates would be more expensive for homeowners and landlords than using a gas boiler, said Domitrovic. When temperatures dip below freezing, heat pumps become less energy-efficient, and the cost of running them grows.
It’s one reason natural gas advocates have defended continued use of the fuel, while promoting biofuels as an eventual substitute.
Renewable natural gas or biomethane — a low-carbon fuel produced from manure, food waste and other sources — could prove cheaper than electric heat if it were scaled up and mixed with regular natural gas in existing pipelines, found a study backed by the American Gas Foundation last year.
Heat pump advocates have contested those findings, pointing to a report commissioned by the California Energy Commission that concluded building electrification was the “least-cost” option for decarbonization. They add that using methane as a feedstock, as RNG does, would also pose risks of climate-threatening leaks.
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Landlords who ditch gas for electric heat, stoves or dryers might pass along the cost to renters, Miller’s group wrote in a report last year. Even people who own their homes may not be able to afford repairs to the house’s envelope and insulation — considered prerequisites for fuel switching. A flight of wealthy homeowners from the gas system could raise rates for everyone else, the report found.
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Any national-level mandate would elevate an idea that has already taken root in California, where the state Energy Commission is contemplating an all-electric requirement for new buildings.
Last summer, Berkeley, Calif., prohibited new buildings from having natural gas pipes for heat, water and cooking. The town simultaneously mandated they be wired to handle electric heat pumps and stoves.
Over 50 California cities and counties have since proposed similar ordinances. State energy officials have signed off on them, since California’s building code allows cities to set stricter energy standards than those imposed by the state.
That’s not the case in Massachusetts, where the first gas ban on the East Coast was shot down last month by the state attorney general’s office (Energywire, July 24).
Legislators in at least four other states have reacted swiftly to head off the prospect of municipal gas bans, passing laws that prohibit such restrictions.
California cities have faced their own headwinds enacting bans. Berkeley has been sued by the state restaurant association — a group backed in part by gas utilities — saying chefs depend on “the intense heat” provided by a natural gas flame. READ MORE
Study: Without Smart Charging and Upgrades, Some US Cities Might Feel the Squeeze from EVs (GreenCarReports)
Influx of Electric Vehicles Accelerates Need for Grid Planning (Pacific Northwest National Laboratory)
Electrification Nation: Buildings and Energy (OurEnergyPolicy; includes VIDEO)
California sued over climate change policy — by the nation’s biggest gas utility (Los Angeles Times)