Dealing with my little gas problem, part 1: TotalGreen.

In order to reduce our household’s carbon footprint, I Opted for Nicor TotalGreen

Nicor is the natural gas supplier where I live

Nicor Total Green program – this optional program provides a ridiculously small portion of RNG and makes up the rest of the environmental impact using offsets.

Renewable Natural Gas (RNG) – this is primarily methane that is extracted from decaying organic material in landfills and from manure that farmers convert using anaerobic bacteria. Burning RNG still produces carbon dioxide, but carbon dioxide from biological sources does not incrementally add to the greenhouse gas problem. Everything in the gas pipeline that isn’t RNG comes from fossil fuels which are the real problem.

Total Green options – Nicor offers two options: for about 9 cents per therm, the Basic option allocates only 0.6% of your emissions to RNG and 99.4% to offsets. The Premium option (about 29 cents per therm) allocates 10.3% of your emissions to RNG. The remaining 89.7% is allocated through offsets. Since both options allow me to claim carbon neutrality for my natural gas use, I chose the less expensive option.

Offsets are financial instruments that represent specific efforts to reduce or avoid the amount of greenhouse gases being released into the atmosphere. The use of offsets here was a major obstacle for me. Offsets have had a rocky history – some are better than others and there is a huge industry that attempts to provide verification and validation. I got over my concerns and rationalized it this way:

o   I only had two options to have the same effect. I could buy a new furnace, a new water heater, and a new dryer – all electric. Probably not a great way to manage our budget. The alternative was to research and purchase offsets on the market. I rationalized that I’m probably not as likely to do that as efficiently as Nicor.

o   Recognizing there is risk associated with offsets, it makes sense to seek accountability for their effectiveness. I expect Nicor to publish some kind of summary, given that we are paying a premium. I will approach Nicor directly, but the Citizens Utility Board may also be an effective advocate.

o   Signing up makes a statement about my values. When sufficient customers demand more sustainable solutions, those solutions will advance more quickly.

To be clear, Nicor isn’t really part of the long-term climate solution, just as steam engines aren’t a key part of our transportation system. We need to stop burning fossil fuels. Their business is to provide natural gas safely and efficiently wherever people and businesses demand it and to sell as much as they can and make as much money as they can, within ethical bounds. That’s OK. That’s American capitalism.  I don’t see RNG as a permanent replacement. There just isn’t enough organic waste as we move away from meat and as food chains do a better job of eliminating or composting their waste.

Is this program just a marketing stunt? My opinion – it may, at its core, be a marketing stunt, but it’s not just a marketing stunt. This program met a need I had to help manage my carbon footprint. I will incrementally burn less fossil gas and the offsets should zero out the impact of the rest. The ultimate goal is to go all-electric, but for me, this is an acceptable bridge.

·It just took a few clicks, so the process was relatively painless.