PG&E pledges net-zero emissions by 2040, will keep using gas

Water pipes leading to the cooling system of Pacific Gas & Electrics Colusa Generating Station near Maxwell, Nov. 15, 2011. The utility on Wednesday, June 8, 2022, outlined a plan to achieve climate goals including net-zero emissions by 2040. The report says natural gas plants like the Colusa generating station are likely to remain online but produce 40% less emissions by 2030 compared to 2015 levels. AP photo/Rich Pedroncelli, file photo
Kathleen Ronayne The Associated Press The nation’s largest utility Wednesday, June 8, outlined a multi-decade plan that aims to more rapidly reduce to zero its net greenhouse gas emissions while still using natural gas to produce power. Pacific Gas & Electric’s plan is to take as much carbon out of the air as it emits by 2040, five years earlier than the goal set by its home state of California and Southern California Edison, the state’s second-largest utility. The utility’s climate strategy also calls for more ambitious near-term goals. These include lowering emissions to 50% below 2015 levels, expanding the use of biogas – created when food waste and other organic matter breaks down – so that it constitutes 15% of its natural gas production, and ensuring 70% of its
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