Energy efficiency is great for lowering emissions and should always be our first choice. Recently, the solar market has taken off as governments and utilities invest and is now the lowest cost method for generating electricity. But building emissions are still high. The culprit? Space and water heating with gas.
“Natural” gas is largely made up of methane, a greenhouse gas many times more potent than carbon dioxide—and faster acting! This high global warming potential of methane means that cutting methane is a highly effective way to reduce climate impacts.

Mapping the Leaks  ‍

When a 2014 Massachusetts law required utilities to report gas leak locations to the Department of Public Utilities, HEET used the street addresses of leaks to map them in over 200 Massachusetts towns and cities. Making the invisible visible, these zoomable maps captured the attention of state and local officials, the media, and the public. Now communities look forward to seeing annual HEET updates, enabling communities to track leaks and take action to reduce methane emissions. These leak maps helped to launch a grassroots movement in Massachusetts led by Mothers Out Front and the Gas Leaks Allies.

‍Fixing the Worst Gas Leaks First 

Research at Boston University showed a policy path forward when they found that 7% of gas leaks emit half of all the gas pouring into the atmosphere from a leaky distribution system. HEET helped pass a second Massachusetts law requiring gas companies to address these “environmentally significant impact” leaks. Accelerated by a combination of data, communication, and people power, this first in the nation law was passed just six months after the research was published.
The law passed, but how would the utilities comply? Knowing there was no proven method of finding the high-volume leaks, HEET conducted a pilot study with the three largest utilities in Massachusetts—Columbia Gas, Eversource, and National Grid. The Large Volume Leak study confirmed that fixing the large leaks cuts methane emissions in half and established fast, reliable, and effective methods for identifying big leaks for repair. HEET worked with utilities and allies to design an ongoing Shared Action Plan that formalizes data exchange, repair verification, and reassessing methods of addressing large volume leaks.

We’ve cut energy use, helped accelerate solar, shown the impacts of our gas system on the climate, and enacted a plan with gas utilities to cut emissions from the gas distribution system in half. 
Yet how do we achieve our state’s zero emission goal by 2050 in a way that: 

• Is safe
• Offers renewable, resilient, and reliable energy that is affordable for everyone
• Protects existing gas system workers jobs 
• Create a path for gas utilities to evolve to renewable energy
• Moves at the speed and scale needed without overwhelming the electric grid

Our answer is networked geothermal boreholes, connected by a shared loop in the current gas right-of-way that provides thermal energy to customer buildings. Our design for networked geothermal is based on proven technology in use in both the United States and Europe. The difference in our design is the interconnection among networked geothermal systems and the transformation of gas utilities to thermal utilities, leveraging the workforce and resources of existing utilities for a fast and scaleable clean energy transition.
Gas utilities are already planning and installing this technology in demonstration projects, with over six moving forward in Massachusetts and over 12 states interested across the country. Eversource Gas has already broken ground on an installation in Framingham, MA.