Climate change: Natural gas pipelines will have purpose when natural gas is gone
A recent movement to ban natural gas in new homes is picking up speed in places like California to potentially help address climate change. But the policy is not a panacea and in fact, will have significant unintended consequences that won’t reduce emissions and yet still hurt consumers and grid reliability.
While all-electric homes may make a difference, they only significantly combat climate change if renewables alone are used to generate electricity. The time of day we use energy also matters. Home heating, hot water and cooking can be electrified, but people tend to use them when there is no renewable energy on the grid. This mismatch could lead to even greater use of natural gas and coal plants to produce the required electricity, while increasing costs and inconveniences for consumers.
By Jack Brouwer, USA Today