{"id":42325,"date":"2025-01-31T19:07:51","date_gmt":"2025-02-01T01:07:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.citizensutilityboard.org\/?p=42325"},"modified":"2025-02-28T10:50:05","modified_gmt":"2025-02-28T16:50:05","slug":"illinois-future-of-gas-alternative-fuels-meeting-january-13-2025","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.citizensutilityboard.org\/blog\/2025\/01\/31\/illinois-future-of-gas-alternative-fuels-meeting-january-13-2025\/","title":{"rendered":"Illinois Future of Gas: Alternative Fuels Meeting \u2013 January 13, 2025"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>By: Scott Allen, Energy Policy Specialist<\/strong><\/em>
\nAlternative fuels was the theme of the eighth Future of Gas workshop.\u00a0 Advocates often refer to alternative fuels and decarbonization technologies (like so-called \u201crenewable\u201d natural gas, hydrogen and carbon capture connected to coal plants) as \u201cfalse solutions\u201d because they fail to truly deliver the clean and affordable promises made by the entities that market them. That\u2019s a fair characterization, but after hearing the presenters during this workshop, I have a new term for this industry: \u201ccommodifying pollution.\u201d That phrase probably hints at my bias (but I\u2019ve never claimed to be unbiased). However, I am open to being convinced otherwise. I\u2019ll be all for\u00a0 alternative fuels and carbon mitigation technologies\u2013IF they turn out to be viable, healthy and affordable.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In this workshop, we heard from the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI); GTI Energy (formerly known as the Gas Technology Institute); The Roanoke Gas Company; Green Era Chicago and Nicor Gas\/Southern Company.<\/span><\/p>\n

EPRI\u2019s presenter gave an analysis of the various pathways to decarbonization via alternative fuels. The presentation was quite dense and cross-referenced. It compared, contrasted and qualified such a wide range of scenarios in such specificity that untangling it would take several pages, so I\u2019ll skip to the takeaway points: \u201cbioenergy\u201d and Carbon Capture, Utilization and Storage (CCUS) conceptually are important, but as a decarbonization strategy, their potential is limited. There are cost-usefulness tradeoffs for various types of fuels and technologies depending on the sector and application.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

GTI Energy\u2019s presentation discussed two alternative fuels: hydrogen and \u201crenewable natural gas,\u201d or RNG. GTI went further than EPRI to say that the benefits of RNG and hydrogen are well known, and that both fuels are tested, ready-made alternatives to methane gas. <\/span>It\u2019s important to point out that RNG is primarily methane, and in smaller quantities, carbon dioxide.\u00a0 In the same way that advertisers branded methane extracted from the earth as \u201cnatural,\u201d they\u2019ve started calling methane that occurs via decomposition of organic matter \u201crenewable.\u201d<\/span><\/i>\u00a0 Likewise, when people in the energy industry refer to hydrogen, they are usually talking about the production of hydrogen, and then using that hydrogen as fuel in a number of industrial, commercial, transportation, and even residential applications.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Hydrogen is appealing, at first, because it only exhausts water vapor. Nothing wrong with that, but the important questions for any application of hydrogen are:\u00a0<\/span>How is it produced? <\/span>How efficient is it? <\/span>Is it cost effective?\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

As far as I can tell, there aren\u2019t any clear answers to those questions. It\u2019s also not clear which method of production is preferred by the fossil fuel industry. They point out that hydrogen can be produced using renewable energy, but also that it can be produced using nuclear, gas and coal energy. I suppose they estimate that the greenhouse gas emissions from production would be offset by the energy density of the hydrogen used as a fuel. I can\u2019t say whether or not this is true, or in which applications it may or may not be true, but neither can anybody else it seems.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

As always, I ask you to <\/span>watch the replay of the workshop, and browse the materials GTI and EPRI<\/strong><\/a> made available\u2013see if you can work out what they conclude. I\u2019m not qualified to judge the technical, chemical or mathematical claims the presenters made, but I am able to glean this:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Hydrogen and RNG may be suitable replacements for extracted methane gas in certain scenarios, <\/span>but their potential to be blended and sent through the gas distribution system will only encourage the production of waste gas, and will do nothing to stop endless utility infrastructure expansion<\/span>. Even more, their potential to be blended and sent through the gas distribution system remains questionable.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The topic of alternative fuels ties nicely into the ninth workshop which will discuss how to deal with the worst effects of those fuels and additional decarbonization technologies.<\/span> Stay tuned for more updates and <\/b>Check out our ICC Future of Gas page for more information.<\/b><\/a><\/p>\n

We’re introducing a new feature to our blogs:\u00a0Saad Siddique<\/a><\/strong>, Economist and Energy Analyst from the\u00a0Environmental Law & Policy Center<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0has graciously agreed to provide analytical summaries of Future of Gas workshops. Saad’s academic training in economics, engineering and energy resources qualifies him to evaluate information that I, Scott, do not have the ability to assess. My goal is to provide commentary and observations about the actors who deliver information, and the processes of utility regulation. For this blog entry and the next, we’re going to link to Saad’s writing. After that, I will be more directly leaning on Saad’s work to support claims that I make, and we will continue to provide links to his full summaries.\u00a0Click here to read Saad’s analysis of the January 13 workshop.<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By: Scott Allen, Energy Policy Specialist Alternative fuels was the theme of the eighth Future of Gas workshop.\u00a0 Advocates often refer to alternative fuels and decarbonization technologies (like so-called \u201crenewable\u201d natural gas, hydrogen and carbon capture connected to coal plants) as \u201cfalse solutions\u201d because they fail to truly deliver the clean and affordable promises made by the entities that market them. That\u2019s a fair characterization, but after hearing the presenters during this workshop, I have a new term for this industry: \u201ccommodifying pollution.\u201d That phrase probably hints at my bias (but I\u2019ve never claimed to be unbiased). However, I am open to being convinced otherwise. I\u2019ll be all for\u00a0 alternative fuels and carbon mitigation technologies\u2013IF they turn out to be viable, healthy and affordable.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 In this workshop, we heard from the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI); GTI Energy (formerly known as the Gas Technology Institute); The Roanoke Gas Company; Green Era Chicago and Nicor Gas\/Southern Company. EPRI\u2019s presenter gave an analysis of the various pathways to decarbonization via alternative fuels. The presentation was quite dense and cross-referenced. It compared, contrasted and qualified such a wide range of scenarios in such specificity that untangling it would take several pages, so I\u2019ll skip to the takeaway points: \u201cbioenergy\u201d and Carbon Capture, Utilization and Storage (CCUS) conceptually are important, but as a decarbonization strategy, their potential is limited. There are cost-usefulness tradeoffs for various types of fuels and technologies depending on the sector and application.\u00a0 GTI Energy\u2019s presentation discussed two alternative fuels: hydrogen and \u201crenewable natural gas,\u201d or RNG. GTI went further than EPRI to say that the benefits of RNG and hydrogen are well known, and that both fuels are tested, ready-made alternatives to methane gas. It\u2019s important to point out that RNG is primarily methane, and in smaller quantities, carbon dioxide.\u00a0 In the same way that advertisers branded methane extracted from the earth as \u201cnatural,\u201d they\u2019ve started calling methane that occurs via decomposition of organic matter \u201crenewable.\u201d\u00a0 Likewise, when people in the energy industry refer to hydrogen, they are usually talking about the production of hydrogen, and then using that hydrogen as fuel in a number of industrial, commercial, transportation, and even residential applications.\u00a0\u00a0 Hydrogen is appealing, at first, because it only exhausts water vapor. Nothing wrong with that, but the important questions for any application of hydrogen are:\u00a0How is it produced? How efficient is it? Is it cost effective?\u201d\u00a0 As far as I can tell, there aren\u2019t any clear answers to those questions. It\u2019s also not clear which method of production is preferred by the fossil fuel industry. They point out that hydrogen can be produced using renewable energy, but also that it can be produced using nuclear, gas and coal energy. I suppose they estimate that the greenhouse gas emissions from production would be offset by the energy density of the hydrogen used as a fuel. I can\u2019t say whether or not this is true, or in which applications it may or may not be true, but neither can anybody else it seems.\u00a0\u00a0 As always, I ask you to watch the replay of the workshop, and browse the materials […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":"","_wpscppro_dont_share_socialmedia":null,"_wpscppro_custom_social_share_image":0,"_facebook_share_type":"default","_twitter_share_type":"default","_linkedin_share_type":"default","_pinterest_share_type":"default","_linkedin_share_type_page":"","_instagram_share_type":"default","_medium_share_type":"default","_threads_share_type":"","_google_business_share_type":"","_selected_social_profile":[],"_wpsp_enable_custom_social_template":false,"_wpsp_social_scheduling":{"enabled":false,"datetime":null,"platforms":[],"status":"template_only","dateOption":"today","timeOption":"now","customDays":"","customHours":"","customDate":"","customTime":"","schedulingType":"absolute"},"_wpsp_active_default_template":true},"categories":[1752],"tags":[1766,184,99],"class_list":["post-42325","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-icc-future-of-gas","tag-alternative-fuels","tag-gas","tag-nicor"],"cp_meta_data":{"_facebook_share_type":["default"],"_twitter_share_type":["default"],"_linkedin_share_type":["default"],"_pinterest_share_type":["default"],"_instagram_share_type":["default"],"_medium_share_type":["default"],"classic-editor-remember":["classic-editor"],"_edit_lock":["1740765004:25"],"_edit_last":["25"],"_wp_page_template":["default"],"borntogive_page_header_show_hide":["2"],"borntogive_pages_title_show":["1"],"borntogive_pages_Choose_slider_display":["2"],"borntogive_pages_select_revolution_from_list":["3"],"borntogive_pages_slider_pagination":["yes"],"borntogive_pages_slider_auto_slide":["yes"],"borntogive_pages_slider_direction_arrows":["yes"],"borntogive_pages_slider_effects":["fade"],"borntogive_pages_body_bg_wide":["0"],"borntogive_pages_body_bg_repeat":["repeat"],"borntogive_pages_content_bg_wide":["0"],"borntogive_pages_content_bg_repeat":["repeat"],"borntogive_pages_social_show":["1"],"borntogive_strict_no_sidebar":["0"],"borntogive_sidebar_columns_layout":["3"],"borntogive_gallery_slider_pagination":["yes"],"borntogive_gallery_slider_auto_slide":["yes"],"borntogive_gallery_slider_direction_arrows":["yes"],"borntogive_gallery_slider_effects":["fade"],"_wpb_vc_js_status":["false"],"_wpscppro_custom_social_share_image":[""],"_wpscppro_dont_share_socialmedia":["off"],"_wpsp_is_facebook_share":["off"],"_wpsp_is_twitter_share":["off"],"_wpsp_is_linkedin_share":["off"],"_wpsp_is_pinterest_share":["off"],"_selected_social_profile":["a:0:{}"],"_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":["1752"],"_yoast_wpseo_content_score":["30"],"_yoast_wpseo_estimated-reading-time-minutes":["4"],"_wpb_post_custom_layout":["default"]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.citizensutilityboard.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42325","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.citizensutilityboard.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.citizensutilityboard.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.citizensutilityboard.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.citizensutilityboard.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=42325"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.citizensutilityboard.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42325\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":42450,"href":"https:\/\/www.citizensutilityboard.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42325\/revisions\/42450"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.citizensutilityboard.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=42325"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.citizensutilityboard.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=42325"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.citizensutilityboard.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=42325"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}