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November/December 2020 Preserving Belmont’S Small-Town Atmosphere Vol Belmont Citizens Forum Is it Time to Get Natural Gas Out of Belmont? Local initiatives could affect emissions, climate By Roger Wrubel In 2009, Town Meeting adopted a Belmont Climate Action resolution committing to an 80% reduction in our town’s greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 2050. An inventory in 2015 found that Belmont had reduced its GHG emissions by 5% compared with 2007. The inventory showed that the most of Belmont’s emissions came from home heating and vehicles. Most of the reduction in emissions in the last nine years is attributable to a shift from using oil for home heating to natural gas, and CLIMATE.NASA.GOV a similar shift to natural gas from coal Models of molecules of greenhouse gases that trap heat. and oil to generate electricity for the Natural gas is primarily methane. New England grid. In 2018, the Belmont Energy three sources, electrifying houses and businesses Committee issued Achieving Our Climate would drastically reduce our carbon emissions Action Plan: A Belmont Roadmap for Strategic and the rate of atmospheric warming. Decarbonization. The roadmap showed that For Belmont, the strategy involves moving the rate of decline of emissions in Belmont was to all-electric homes and transportation while not sufficient to meet our 80% reduction goal transitioning the electric grid to 100% clean by 2050. More aggressive action is needed. The energy. Toward this end, Belmont Light’s roadmap calls for “strategic electrification” with strategic plan calls for moving to 100% electric heat pumps replacing 50% of oil heating renewable energy by 2022. systems by 2025 and 50% of gas heating systems by 2032, and for 50% of all new vehicles to be Electric Heat Pumps electric by 2030. Electricity is the only form of energy we can Electric heat pumps are those square gray produce without releasing greenhouse gases. boxes that are becoming more common No matter how efficient your gas furnace is and outside buildings. They are very efficient at how much insulation you put in your house, moving heat from outdoors into buildings you still need to burn natural gas to heat your to heat them, even at typically low New house, which releases GHGs. But you can heat England temperatures, and removing heat your house and heat your water efficiently from inside a building for cooling. Heat with electric heat pumps without adding heat- pumps can also power water heaters. For trapping gases to the atmosphere by using solar, more information on heat pumps and how wind, and hydropower to produce electricity. If they work, see bit.ly/MA_Heat_Pumps most of our electricity were produced from those November/December 2020 Preserving Belmont’s Small-Town Atmosphere Vol. 21, No. 6 Massachusetts has recently begun to consider Belmont Citizens Forum its own roadmap to reach its own aggressive climate goals. In April 2020, the Executive Office Officers of Environmental and Energy Affairs (EOEEA) Grant Monahon, President issued a Letter of Determination establishing John Dieckmann, Vice President a GHG reduction target of at least 85% from Evanthia Malliris, Secretary 1990 levels by 2050 as the Commonwealth’s new legal emissions limit. State Senate and Radha Iyengar, Treasurer House bills addressing a pathway to reach the Commonwealth’s goals are now in conference Directors committee: House bill H.4912, An Act to Create Sumner Brown a 2050 Roadmap to a Clean and Thriving David Chase Commonwealth and Senate bill S.2477, An Act Vincent Stanton, Jr. Setting Next Generation Climate Policy. Why not natural gas? Newsletter Natural gas has been described as a bridge to Meg Muckenhoupt, Executive Editor a renewable clean energy future. This is because Mary Bradley, Managing Editor burning natural gas to generate electricity Sue Bass, Newsletter Committee, results in the release of 50% to 60% less carbon Director Emerita dioxide than oil and coal. Substituting natural Virginia Jordan, Evanthia Malliris, gas for the other fossil fuels would allow us NOAA.GOV Vincent Stanton, Jr. time, or the “bridge,” to develop new renewable, non-greenhouse gas-producing technologies to meet our climate goals. That goal should be to Belmont Citizens Forum Inc. is a not-for- MEG MUCKENHOUPT MEG limit the increase in the average global temper- profit organization that strives to maintain Atmospheric carbon dioxide levels over the last 800,000 years. ature to 1.5°C, compared to preindustrial levels, the small-town atmosphere of Belmont, as recommended by the International Panel on Massachusetts, by preserving its natural and use will increase, as shown by their continued most cities you can commonly smell methane Climate Change. Have we reached the end of the investment in gas infrastructure, including leaking from underground pipes. Methane is historical resources, limiting traffic growth, bridge? pipelines, gas compressors, and storage which actually odorless so mercaptan, which stinks, is and enhancing pedestrian safety. We do this The Natural Gas Council ads promote natural will last decades. Do you think the industry added to natural gas so leaks can be detected. by keeping residents informed about planning gas as clean, reliable, and domestically produced is planning to abandon that infrastructure so (See “80 Natural Gas Leaks in Belmont,” Belmont and zoning issues, by participating actively in with a clean, blue flame. Perhaps you have we can eliminate emissions from fossil fuels by Citizens Forum Newsletter, May 2016.) public hearings, and by organizing forums. switched from an oil-burning furnace to an 2050? Methane is a much more powerful heat- efficient gas furnace, paid for largely with gas Besides carbon dioxide emissions, another trapping molecule than CO2, although its The BCF Newsletter is published six times a utility subsidies. These campaigns have been troubling aspect of natural gas is that global atmospheric concentration is much lower year, in January, March, May, July, September, successful. Total consumption of natural gas in methane concentrations in the atmosphere are than that of CO2, and it cycles through the and November. Published material represents the United States increased by 29% in the last also increasing. Natural gas is mostly methane, atmosphere much more rapidly than carbon 20 years while total consumption of energy the views of the authors and not necessarily a carbon atom surrounded by four hydrogen dioxide. The half-life of methane in the has been essentially flat. Hundreds of coal-fired those of the Belmont Citizens Forum. atoms; natural gas that ends up in pipelines is atmosphere is about nine years, while CO2can electric power plants have been replaced with about 95% to 98% methane. When methane is hang around for centuries. Methane traps 86 natural gas generators. Letters to the editor may be sent to burned completely, the hydrogen-carbon bonds times more heat than CO2 over a 20-year period. Burning natural gas still produces the green- are broken, releasing energy as heat along with So methane must be reduced to keep global P. O. Box 609, Belmont MA 02478 or to house gas CO , and lots of it, as carbon dioxide 2 carbon dioxide and water. temperatures below critical levels by 2050. [email protected] concentrations continue to rise. It is hard to Methane is released into the atmosphere by Reducing natural gas use within this short time imagine how either Belmont or Massachusetts both natural and human activities. Methane frame is an essential part of the solution as the belmontcitizensforum.org can reach their climate goals in the next © 2020 Belmont Citizens Forum. All rights reserved. is discharged from volcanoes and wetlands. window of opportunity to act closes. 20 to 30 years without immediately transi- Human-induced sources of methane include Since many houses in Belmont and our neigh- tioning away from natural gas. Instead, the gas rice paddies, cows, landfills, and fossil-fuel boring communities have fossil-fuel heating industry is trying to ensure that natural gas production, transmission, and distribution. In systems, converting to electric systems will take 2 belmontcitizensforum.org November/December 2020 3 spearheaded efforts with Belmont Light to reduce Bitner said that the EC had readied an the town’s carbon footprint in a variety of ways, Emission-Free zoning by-law similar to the including inventorying GHG emissions and Brookline bylaw to present at Town Meeting. running clean energy campaigns: a residential When the attorney general rejected the energy efficiency campaign, Belmont Drives Brookline bylaw, Belmont’s bylaw had to be Electric, Belmont Heat Smart (encouraging shelved. Bitner said the EC is now studying electric heat pumps), and Belmont Goes Solar. legal alternatives: having the legislature pass an In 2011, Belmont adopted the Massachusetts emission-free electrification bylaw for the entire Stretch Building Code which required a higher state prohibiting fossil-fuel use for heating in level of energy efficiency in new construction houses and other buildings, or allowing each and major renovations. municipality to have the right to pass its own Marty Bitner, EC co-chair, states that the EC emission-free bylaw. wants to engage with all town committees and Bitner says there are four possible paths town officials to make climate considerations forward for emission-free electrification in front and center in the town’s decisions. To Belmont. this end, the EC has had a seat at the table in ● A nonbinding resolution. Belmont Town planning the new Belmont Middle and High Meeting could pass a nonbinding resolution School, now under construction, which will demanding the state enact legislation be zero-net energy and have no natural gas requiring electric heat and cooling in new service. A general definition of a zero net energy construction, so that the state could comply building is that the amount of energy provided with its own Global Warming Solutions by on-site renewable energy sources is at least Act adopted in 2008 as well as the Letter of equal to the amount of energy used by the Determination recently issued by EOEEA.
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