The City of Philadelphia’s Office of Sustainability worked with Philadelphia Gas Works to release a Philadelphia Gas Works Business Diversification Study, which will help the city achieve carbon neutrality by 2050. The study aimed to identify pathways to reducing emissions, while maintaining customer affordability and supporting the PGW workforce of over 1,600.
The study has evaluated the pathways to reducing greenhouse gas emissions from heating and other uses of natural gas. The pathways identified were in line with the city’s climate and air quality goals. The study also determined the near-term business strategies for PGW to ensure affordability to customers and sustain jobs. It has outlined some pilot projects for reducing greenhouse gas emissions, ensure long-term workforce opportunities and benefit the low-income customers.
The pilot strategies include:
· A weatherization program, wherein the city and PGW will seek funding opportunities to support the low- and moderate-income customers for the implementation of the weatherization applications, like home insulation.
· A feasibility study to investigate the technical and geological potential of block-level networked geothermal district systems, the utility financial and regulatory model for the system and the required skillset in the workforce.
· A local decarbonized gas program to explore the potential to convert City waste to biomethane using local resources.
The study is part of the city’s climate action and supported by the Bloomberg Philanthropies American Cities Climate Challenge.
