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29-529: Its headquarters are located in Gas Company Tower in downtown Los Angeles . SoCalGas provides natural gas service for approximately 21.6 million customers, spanning roughly 20,000 square miles of California, extending from Visalia in the north to the Mexican border in the south. Gas service for San Diego County is provided by sister utility San Diego Gas & Electric , and Southwest Gas and

58-459: A methane concentration of 90% or greater. By removing CO2 and other impurities from biogas, and increasing the concentration of methane to a level similar to fossil natural gas, it becomes possible to distribute RNG via existing gas pipeline infrastructure. RNG can be used in existing appliances, including vehicles with natural gas burning engines ( natural gas vehicles ). The most common way of collecting biogas with which to produce biomethane

87-407: A $ 1 billion investment from Canadian pipeline operator Enbridge to scale its existing network of food waste anaerobic digesters to cover all major markets of North America. Biogas creates similar environmental pollutants as ordinary natural gas fuel, such as carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide , nitrogen oxide , hydrogen sulfide and particulates . Any unburned gas that escapes contains methane,

116-405: A long lived greenhouse gas . The key difference from fossil natural gas is that it is often considered partly or fully carbon neutral , since the carbon dioxide contained in the biomass is naturally renewed in each generation of plants, rather than being released from fossil stores and increasing atmospheric carbon dioxide . A major concern is that the potential biogas yield would only represent

145-412: A port or river) for the chosen source of biomass. The existing gas storage infrastructure would allow the plant to continue to manufacture gas at the full utilization rate even during periods of weak demand, helping minimize manufacturing capital costs per unit of gas produced. Renewable gas can be produced through three main processes: In North America, most RNG development has historically occurred in

174-445: A small percentage of existing supplies of fossil gas (also called natural gas). This fact has led existing natural gas suppliers to push back against measures to increase the use of electricity as an energy supply - decreasing demand for gas. This reality prompted Southern California Gas Company (SoCalGas) to covertly support the creation of a nonprofit: Californians for Balanced Energy Solutions (C4Bes) which then went on to lobby for

203-643: Is a subsidiary of Sempra , a Fortune 500 company based in San Diego . Its service area encompasses 23,000 sq mi (60,000 km) of diverse terrain throughout most of Central and Southern California, from just south of Sanger to the Mexican border. In late 2012, the company began the Advanced Meter Installation (AMI) Project that consists of upgrading over 6 million gas meters with the new Advanced Meter communication device. This device

232-473: Is attached to an analog gas meter that automatically and securely transfers gas usage information to the company's customer service and billing centers. The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) has approved a budget of $ 1.05 billion for this project, which is expected to be completed in 2017. On March 6, 2019, SoCalGas announced a plan to replace 20 percent of its traditional natural gas supply with renewable natural gas (RNG) by 2030. SoCalGas aims to be

261-515: Is of particular interest in countries with extensive natural gas distribution networks. Core advantages of SNG include compatibility with existing natural gas infrastructure, higher efficiency that Fisher-Tropsch fuels production and smaller-production scale than other second generation biofuel production systems. The Energy Research Centre of the Netherlands has conducted extensive research on large-scale SNG production from woody biomass, based on

290-748: Is through the process of anaerobic digestion . Multiple ways of methanizing carbon dioxide/ monoxide and hydrogen also exist, including biomethanation , the Sabatier process and a new electrochemical process pioneered in the United States currently undergoing trials. Renewable natural gas can be produced and distributed via the existing gas grid , making it an attractive means of supplying existing premises with renewable heat and renewable gas energy. Renewable natural gas can also be converted into liquefied natural gas (LNG) or compressed natural gas (CNG) for direct use as fuel in transport sector. In

319-468: The Deepwater Horizon oil spill " by journalists. The company has advocated for mixing biogas into existing natural gas pipelines. However, California state officials have taken the position that biogas is "better used in hard-to-electrify sectors of the economy-- like aviation, heavy industry and long-haul trucking." Gas Company Tower Too Many Requests If you report this error to

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348-623: The GoBiGas project. The plant had the capacity to produce 20 megawatts-worth of bioSNG from about 30 MW-worth of biomass, aiming at a conversion efficiency of 65%. From December 2014 the bioSNG plant was fully operational and supplied gas to the Swedish natural gas grid, reaching the quality demands with a methane content of over 95%. The plant was permanently closed due to economic problems in April 2018. Göteborg Energi had invested 175 million euro in

377-723: The La Goleta Gas Field adjacent to Goleta ; and the Playa del Rey storage facility, north of Playa del Rey , near the Los Angeles International Airport. As Southern California's population grew, so too, did the company, eventually becoming the nation's largest natural gas distribution utility, serving 19.5 million people through 5.5 million gas meters in more than 530 communities. Headquartered in Los Angeles, Southern California Gas Company

406-747: The Long Beach Gas & Oil Department (LBGO) carve out small portions of the Southern California area for natural gas delivery. The company provides gas service for all or part of the following counties : This gas company's roots trace back to the 1800s when new settlers arrived in Los Angeles in search of a new frontier. In 1867, Los Angeles Gas Company , the forerunner of today's Southern California Gas Company, installed 43 new gas lamps along Main Street. The gas lighting business

435-459: The U.S. by 2030. In combination with power-to-gas , whereby the carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide fraction of biogas are converted to methane using electrolyzed hydrogen , the renewable gas potential of raw biogas is approximately doubled. A biomass to RNG efficiency of 70% can be achieved during the production process. Costs are minimized by maximizing production scale and by locating an anaerobic digestion plant next to transport links (e.g.

464-733: The United States, and a study by the National Association of Clean Water Agencies and the Water Environment Federation found that the quantity of biosolids removed from wastewater could be turned into enough biogas to potentially meet up to 12% of America's national electricity demand. More recently, a study commissioned by the American Gas Foundation and executed by ICF in 2019 projected that between 1.6-3.78 trillion cubic feet of RNG could be produced annually for pipeline injection in

493-561: The United States, projections of the ultimate supply potential for RNG vary. An analysis conducted in 2011 by the Gas Technology Institute determined that renewable gas from waste biomass including agricultural waste has the potential to add up to 2.5 quadrillion Btu annually, being enough to meet the natural gas needs of 50% of American homes. The Environmental and Energy Study Institute estimated that renewable natural gas could replace up to 10% of all natural gas used in

522-535: The Wikimedia System Administrators, please include the details below. Request from 172.68.168.150 via cp1114 cp1114, Varnish XID 966530243 Upstream caches: cp1114 int Error: 429, Too Many Requests at Thu, 28 Nov 2024 11:05:38 GMT Renewable natural gas Renewable natural gas (RNG) , also known as biomethane , is a renewable fuel and biogas which has been upgraded to a quality similar to fossil natural gas and has

551-590: The cleanest natural gas utility in North America, which it plans to achieve by delivering increasingly renewable energy to its customers. As part of this effort, SoCalGas has partnered with startup Twelve to convert CO 2 from raw biogas into methane . A gas leak from the underground Aliso Canyon gas storage started in October 2015 releasing methane uncontrollably. By December 2015, thousands of people from Porter Ranch had been temporarily relocated and

580-573: The company began storing gas in large holding tanks. In 1941, the company introduced a new system to the Southwest United States : underground storage of natural gas. By 2016, the company had four separate underground storage facilities, all of them depleted oil and gas fields repurposed as gas storage. The four are, in order from largest to smallest, the Aliso Canyon field , north of Porter Ranch ; Honor Rancho , near Newhall ;

609-509: The country. Ecotricity announced plans to supply green gas to UK consumers via the national grid. Centrica also announced that it would begin injecting gas, manufactured from sewage, into the gas grid. In Canada, FortisBC, a gas provider in British Columbia, injects renewably created natural gas into its existing gas distribution system. A company called Divert , which also reduces food waste through donation, says it will use

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638-496: The discovery of the Buena Vista Oil Field near Taft, California in 1909, which included a huge reservoir of natural gas. Since natural gas had twice the heating value of manufactured gas, the company took the bold step to convert its system to natural gas and build pipelines throughout the state. Natural gas was soon found throughout the country, and demand for the fuel was rapidly growing. To meet customer demand,

667-417: The importation of feedstocks from abroad. Renewable natural gas plants based on wood can be categorized into two main categories, one being allothermal, which has the energy provided by a source outside of the gasifier. One example is the double-chambered fluidized bed gasifiers consisting of a separate combustion and gasification chambers. Autothermal systems generate the heat within the gasifier, but require

696-481: The leak had added more than 150 million pounds of methane to the atmosphere. The NGO Environmental Defense Fund has called the incident "unprecedented for California" and compared the leak's continuous output of greenhouse gas emissions to that of 7 million cars or "8 or 9 coal-fired plants". The 20-year climate impact of this leak is estimated to be the same as burning a billion gallons of gasoline. The incident has been called "the biggest environmental disaster since

725-708: The municipal solid waste (MSW) sector. The first commercial RNG facility was launched at the Fresh Kills landfill near New York City in 1982. As of 2023, more than 300 RNG facilities are currently operational in North America, with more than 70% of supplies drawn from the MSW and landfill sectors, according to the U.S. trade group RNG Coalition. Göteborg Energi opened the first demonstration plant for large scale production of bio-synthetic natural gas (SNG) through gasification of forest residues in Gothenburg , Sweden within

754-418: The plant and intensive attempts for a year to sell the plant to new investors had failed. It can be noted that the plant was a technical success, and performed as intended. However, it was not economically viable, given the prices of natural gas at the time. It is expected the plant is to re-emerge around 2030 when economic conditions may be more favorable, with the possibility of a higher carbon price. SNG

783-447: The use of pure oxygen to avoid nitrogen dilution. In the UK, NNFCC found that any UK bioSNG plant built by 2020 would be highly likely to use "clean woody feedstocks" and that there are several regions with good availability of that source. In the UK, using anaerobic digestion is growing as a means of producing renewable biogas , with nearly 90 biomethane injection sites built across

812-622: Was looking to expand its gas business. Founded in San Francisco in 1886 as Pacific Lighting , the company bought several small gas manufacturing and distribution companies in the area, including the Los Angeles Gas Company in 1890. These companies ultimately became Southern California Gas Company. By the early 20th century, natural gas —a colorless, odorless gas found in association with oil underground—was starting to gain attention. The breakthrough came with

841-412: Was run by five entrepreneurs who manufactured the gas from asphalt , a tar -like substance, and later from oil . The company was enjoying modest success until Thomas Edison introduced his electric light in 1879. With the future of the gas lamp business uncertain, the company began looking for other uses for gas, and Los Angeles soon had its first gas stove and heater. Meanwhile, Pacific Enterprises

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