Breaking ground with investments in new technologies

Did you know that natural gas can be converted to zero-emission hydrogen using microwave technology?

Aurora Hydrogen, the company developing this solution, is one of many exciting tech startups breaking new ground in energy thanks in part to support from Williams’ Corporate Venture Capital (CVC) program.

Hydrogen production from the Aurora technology has the potential to reduce global CO₂ emissions significantly while using less electricity than other methods of hydrogen production and avoiding the need for CO₂ sequestration.

Williams’ CVC program supports efforts to commercialize emerging technologies including clean hydrogen, solar, carbon capture utilization and storage and next generation natural gas.

“We are investing in innovations and technologies at the forefront of the energy transition,” said Chad Zamarin, senior vice president of Corporate Strategic Development for Williams. “With our existing energy infrastructure, Williams is well positioned to enable supply and delivery decisions that connect the cleanest energy sources to meet real-time energy needs across the country.”

Several other recent announcements include investments in methane emissions detection technology and next gen natural gas certification.

• Williams has established a next generation natural gas certification process that covers the energy value chain from production through gathering and transmission with deliveries to end users. Williams has invested in data software company Context Labs to activate technology to track and measure emissions across the value chain, and is leveraging that technology in recently executed agreements with upstream producer Coterra Energy and downstream utility Dominion Energy Virginia.
• The CVC program also committed to an indirect investment in a developer of satellite-based greenhouse gas monitoring technology. The investment in Satlantis Technology through our Encino Environmental Holdings joint venture will further enhance emissions detection and measurement capabilities, and feed data into the decarbonization software provided by Context Labs.
• Additionally, Williams has joined with venture capital firm Energy Innovation Capital (EIC) and tech-focused non-profit Tulsa Innovation to attract energy tech startups to the Tulsa region with support services and access to early-stage capital.

In order for Williams to further decarbonize operations and deliver solutions for customers, partnering for innovation is necessary.

Eyes in the sky
Virginia Natural Gas incorporates aerial drones to inspect natural gas infrastructure

Virginia Natural Gas (VNG) is embracing technology and will be using aerial drones as another means to perform equipment inspections on its pipeline infrastructure. Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), most commonly known as drones, will begin flights for various operations such as inspections of critical infrastructure, right-of-way assessments, and the inspection of more than 5,500 miles of gas pipeline.

Virginia Natural Gas will be one of the first natural gas utilities in the state to use UAVs while simultaneously conducting a pilot program for its sister companies in Illinois, Georgia and Tennessee that all fall under VNG’s parent company, Southern Company Gas. 

Dean Barefield, Unmanned Aerial Services program manager at Southern Company commented “We see parallels between our electric and gas utilities and the ability to integrate that technology. The addition of drones to the day-to-day operations at VNG will offer a cost-effective platform for pipeline inspection while increasing efficiency and safety due to their availability, range and ease of operation.”

Zack Gravely, Asset Protection specialist and one of the new drone pilots said, “drones are ideally suited for inspecting equipment because they can safely and quickly deliver high-quality photos and videos of our system in a way that can minimize environmental impact and inconvenience for customers along any rights-of-way. This technology will be another tool in our arsenal.”

In the past, traditional methods for pipeline inspection have been slower, manually intensive, expensive and sometimes cause safety concerns due to the surrounding natural environment to conduct. Even though natural gas pipelines run underground, they are accessed from above the surface for maintenance and inspection. Vegetation, for instance, will overgrow and obscure the path of workers trying to access the pipeline. Drones equipped with a visual or infrared camera can now be used for navigating and patrolling a segment of pipeline, identifying and capturing images or videos of areas of interest at pre-defined timings and returns.

A team of three trained “pilots” will fly the drones for VNG. They recently obtained their pilot certifications from the Federal Aviation Administration and hope to have the program up in the air soon to help them see from above what they can’t on foot.

A second member of the team, Randall “Ness” Peacock, Construction supervisor at VNG, said he was excited about the program when he first heard about it two years ago. Since he previously had his private pilot’s license, he felt he could enhance his job knowledge while using his passion and expertise of flying and take safety to a higher level.

“Peakcock commented, “I appreciated the opportunity to be part of the initial program and combine my love of flying while further developing my career. “To be on the ground level of this program and help define what it will look like for VNG and for our peers was something I knew I wanted to be involved with.” 

Kenny LeSueur, Engineer and Quality Assurance specialist, rounds out the pilot project team and will be responsible for developing a program to best incorporate drone technology that’s adaptable for the rest of Southern Company Gas. 

“We all have different ideas and are trying to put together a solid program. “Drones will give us the flexibility to perform a variety of higher quality inspections due to their ability to fly closer to pipelines, and safety of operation. For example, when we inspect bridges, we will no longer have to be close to the water source, such as rivers or streams, so it will increase the safety for those in the field as well,” said LeSeur.

The applications of having a drone and certified pilots for the energy company are endless. There will be situations where the drone will be an extension of the team in the field. The real value is when you combine their abilities with the experience of the team, added Peacock.

Virginia Natural Gas is a division of Southern Company Gas, a ONE Future Founding Member. With roots that stretch back to 1850, Virginia Natural Gas serves more than 300,000 residential, commercial and industrial customers in southeastern Virginia.

TC Energy’s Threemile Canyon Farms renewable gas interconnect project

Cattle are notorious for being big producers of methane. However, there are some creative and productive solutions for mitigating the environmental impact of cattle. One involves harnessing their byproducts into another source of energy—a source capable of supplying millions of cubic feet per day of natural gas to vehicles, homes, and businesses

This is happening at a large scale at Threemile Canyon Farms in Oregon, where some 33,000 dairy cows produce 2 million lbs of milk each day. Those cows also currently produce 1.2–1.4 MMscf/d of renewable natural gas, or biogas, with room to grow. TC Energy owns the important role of making sure the gas reaches consumers in California via an interconnect brought in service last year.

Participation in the project is part of TC Energy’s commitment to helping remove emissions from the gas value chain while continuing to deliver affordable energy to consumers. A broad, multitalented team was assembled to evaluate the Threemile biogas stream and develop a meter station equipped with proper analyzers, shut-in valving, and equipment to ensure the gas entering the pipeline is tariff quality. Now operational, flow meters on farm grounds deliver and receive gas at the same time.

The interconnect can move up to 4 MMscf/d of biogas off the farm, a level that’s “definitely a goal the farm would like to attain” given the strong business case for the project, said JP Tan, who served as Threemile interconnect project manager. Government agencies are providing tax incentives for developers to build the infrastructure required to harvest biogas.

The benefits to the environment are also significant. As part of Threemile’s methane extraction process, some 136,000 tonnes/year of CO₂ are avoided, equivalent to the annual greenhouse gas emissions from 28,875 passenger vehicles, CO₂ emissions from the energy consumption of 16,285 homes, or carbon sequestration by 160,061 acres of forest land, according to stats provided by the farm.

And, when considering TC Energy’s involvement in other biogas projects in the U.S., the company is helping make an even larger impact. TC Energy is also receiving gas captured from cow manure at Town Hall Road in Wisconsin and, beyond the cow pastures, a landfill at Dane County in Wisconsin and hog manure at Ruckman Farm in Missouri, each of which delivers around 1 MMscf/d.

At Summit, we are proud to be a leader in reducing methane emissions. To reduce our methane emissions and enhance the efficiency of our system, we are systematically replacing and upgrading aging pipe through a multi-year capital investment. In 2018 alone, we replaced 40 miles of such pipe in Arkansas and Oklahoma. Through this effort, we have been able and will continue to be able to further reduce our methane emissions and promote the ongoing safety and efficiency of our system. Through our mitigation efforts, for 2018, our methane emissions intensity was just 0.228.

Pipeline Replacement Story

Through Spire’s pipeline replacement of aging infrastructure, the company has seen substantial improvement in reducing leaks and methane emissions – ensuring the safety of the community, contributing to substantial environmental improvement and advancing the company’s carbon neutrality commitment.

In fiscal year 2021 we continued to invest in infrastructure upgrades by replacing 285 additional miles of aging infrastructure, which resulted in a 35% leak reduction per 1,000 system miles of distribution pipeline compared to FY20. This marks a 68% reduction in leaks since 2017. With nearly $1 billion invested in pipeline infrastructure upgrades since 2017 – modernizing pipelines and increasing safety – the energy we provide is more efficient than ever before.  

This new infrastructure means lower maintenance costs and improved reliability and service for years to come. It also ensures Spire customers have access to this advanced energy infrastructure to fuel economic growth and job creation, delivering affordable, reliable, clean natural gas to homes and businesses safely, efficiently and with reduced emissions.

Setting a Bold Direction.

In 2019, Southern Star further solidified our commitment to environmental stewardship through the public announcement of two emissions reduction goals: to reduce our system’s methane emissions by 50% by the end of year 2025, based on a 2020 baseline, and to reach net neutrality for carbon and methane emissions by 2050. Through the first two years of the methane reduction program, Southern Star cost effectively, and efficiently, reduced methane emissions in 2021 and 2022 by approximately 23.8% and 10.5%, respectively, from our baseline.

As part of our ongoing efforts to improve how we monitor and reduce emission leaks, Southern Star retained a third-party consultant to audit our 2020 methane emissions baseline data sets and calculations to ensure accuracy in reporting. The third-party audit found only minor necessary changes to the calculated emission values. The validation review resulted in a less than 1% deviation from the internally calculated emissions value.

Our program’s success is driven by our strong partnership and coordination with customers to draw down lines and reduce potential pipeline blowdown emissions, enhanced emissions training of our staff, and employment of real time engine and system analytics to identify leaks and operational emissions indicators more rapidly.

Sustainable and Growth-Oriented Strategies.

Southern Star also continues to implement and evaluate evolving technologies to reduce emissions. Two such technologies are the use of zero emission compression units and enhanced engine and system data analytics.

Our infrastructure assets will remain critical to delivering the safe, clean, reliable, affordable energy people demand for many years to come, but at the same time, we are diversifying. We’ve moved beyond our previous business model by researching sources of cleaner natural gas, investing in renewable natural gas and hydrogen, and achieving emissions targets. Southern Star launched the “H2 Pilot Project,” which involved using a hydrogen-blend fuel in a natural gas reciprocating engine at the Hugoton, Kansas compressor station. Southern Star is the first natural gas transmission company in the United States to utilize hydrogen as a component in its fuel to reduce its carbon footprint. The Hydrogen Pilot Project only further illustrates Southern Star’s persistent commitment to create long term value for customers and communities we serve through modernization, continuous improvement, and planned infrastructure for energies of the future. 

https://southernstar.com/sustainability

Southern Company Gas enjoys two-decade run of lowering emissions

As companies and energy providers strive to build a clean energy future, Southern Company Gas can look back on a solid foundation that has been built over the past two decades.

During a 20-year timeframe, from 1998 to 2018, Southern Company Gas successfully reduced its annual methane emissions by 50% while growing its distribution system by 20%. From 1998 to 2018, the company invested more than $2.2 billion in pipeline and infrastructure improvements that have reduced fugitive methane emissions. During that same timeframe, the company replaced over 6,000 miles of pipe material that is more prone to fugitive emissions, resulting in mitigation of more than 3.3 million metric tons of CO₂ equivalent.  

The distribution system comprised of Atlanta Gas Light, Chattanooga Gas, Nicor Gas and Virginia Natural Gas operates at almost 99% efficiency. These companies continue to work diligently to reduce the remaining 0.13% fugitive methane emissions by continuing to invest in methane detection and reduction across their footprint and exploring offset opportunities. In addition, Southern Company Gas is focusing on opportunities to support carbon emission reductions across the natural gas value chain by expanding already robust energy efficiency programs and deploying emerging natural gas direct use technologies, pursuing renewable natural gas (RNG) opportunities that can capture, remove and reuse methane generated from other sources like agriculture and landfills and promoting natural gas that is produced in a more sustainable way by upstream suppliers.

The sterling 20-year track record of cutting emissions is only the beginning for Southern Company Gas. The company has been a leader on carbon emission reduction projects by serving as a trusted consumer education source for energy efficiency and participating in federal emissions reduction programs. This includes being a founding member of Our Nation’s Energy Future (ONE Future) where industries across the value chain voluntarily set goals for methane emission reductions. Our emissions intensity reduction goals mirror those established by the ONE Future program. The Southern Company Gas current intensity rate of 0.13% is less than ONE Future goals for 2020 (0.48 %) and 2025 (0.44%).

Southern Company Gas has shown it is on the leading edge of innovation in the energy industry. In short, it is growing by leaps and bounds while also reducing its impact on the environment. In a world that has become increasingly environmentally conscious, Southern Company Gas has laid a solid groundwork for the future.

Managing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and the expectations of our stakeholders regarding environmental stewardship is vital to our long-term success. ONEOK has identified GHG emissions as an important area of focus, and we continuously look for opportunities to reduce emissions through strategic programs and initiatives. Some emission reduction opportunities include:

• The further electrification of certain natural gas compression assets.
• Implementing additional methane emission mitigation through best management practices. Examples include methane leak detection and repair, equipment and engineering controls to reduce methane from blowdowns and compressor venting and the replacement of certain natural gas driven pneumatic devices.
• System optimizations such as increasing the utilization of our most efficient assets.
• Collaborating with utility providers to increase the availability of lower-carbon power options.

In September 2021, ONEOK announced a companywide GHG emissions reduction target. ONEOK is targeting a 2.2 million metric ton (MMT) reduction of our combined Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions by 2030. The target represents a 30% reduction in combined operational Scope 1 and location-based Scope 2 GHG emissions attributable to ONEOK assets in 2019.

As of year end 2022, we had achieved reductions totaling approximately 0.5 MMT, or approximately 20% toward our targeted 2.2 MMT of carbon dioxide equivalents. Reductions to date are primarily the result of methane emissions mitigation, system optimizations, electrification of certain natural gas compression equipment and lower carbon-based electricity in states where we operate.

The Right Path for a Low Carbon Pathway

Study shows natural gas key to achieving dramatic emission reduction goals

In 2018 NW Natural introduced our Low Carbon Pathway with a carbon savings goal of 30% by 2035. But how will we get there—and how will we go even further? Recently, NW Natural commissioned a study by one of the nation’s leading economic and environmental consulting firms to assess how the Pacific Northwest can dramatically reduce emissions, while serving energy needs on the coldest winter days. This study shows the most affordable path is to add 25% renewable natural gas into our existing pipeline system. New technology allows waste from landfills, farms and waste water treatment plants to be turned into clean, renewable natural gas. This renewable energy can then be delivered to homes and businesses through NW Natural’s system, which lowers emissions much like wind and solar energy. Today, natural gas sales to our residential and commercial customers account for about 6% of Oregon’s greenhouse gas emissions. But we know we can do even better and we invite you to join us as we conserve, offset and innovate to address climate change

Learn more about this study and our low carbon pathway at Less We Can – NW Natural.