The city of Berkeley will no longer allow natural gas pipes in many new buildings starting Jan. 1, 2020. It’s the first city in California to pass such a law, officials said. [...]
Public support was also unanimous during 45 minutes of comment from community members and representatives of the University of California’s Office of the President (UCOP), energy giant PG&E and the Sierra Club, among others who spoke.
— Berkeleyside
According to the council report on the ordinance, "the effect of this legislation will be that builders will be prohibited from applying for entitlements that include gas infrastructure — gas piping to heat water, space, food, etc. — except for specific building systems that have not yet been modeled for all-electric design" by the state, reports Emilie Raguso for Berkeleyside.
"We have to take more drastic action," said Berkeley Councilwoman Kate Harrison who had initiated the legislation.
Berkeley's direction could soon be replicated by other municipalities nationwide. In 1977, it became the first U.S. city to ban smoking in restaurants and bars and later spearheaded now widely applied environmental regulations.
The Berkeley City Council this week also approved an ordinance that eliminates masculine and feminine pronouns from its municipal code to introduce a gender-neutral language: "he" and "she" will switch to "they" and "them." Certain other terminology will get a makeover as well: "manhole" will be "maintenance hole," and "manpower" will change to "human effort."
They seemed to be making a case for the use of electric induction ranges vs gas ranges, hence the demonstration of the chocolate fondue during the meeting. I've never used electric induction myself, but was curious to the overall energy efficiency compared to gas.
"A major difference between a gas and induction stovetop is that induction is significantly more efficient than gas – food being cooked with induction will receive 90% of the heat generated, as opposed to only 40-55% for gas. This keeps your kitchen much cooler and more comfortable while you prepare meals. Induction cooking also decreases risk of burns and accidental fires, as there is no open flame and the cookware itself is the only heat source." https://www.pcrichard.com/library/blogArticle/induction-vs-gas-vs-electric-cooktops/2300371.pcra
Still that's just one appliance. I'd be curious to see how other appliances stack up gas vs. electric in terms of efficiency. BTW, the coal-burning power plants quoted above, aren't really the source of electricity for California (only 4.3%). Ironically, the greatest portion of CA's electrical power comes from ... wait for it ... natural gas.
I think this was probably much like tduds said, this is a lot of feelgoodery, but probably will have some unintended consequences. But for now lets the city continue to tap their natural reserves of smugness.
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“maintenance hole”
Sounds erotic.
"Oh go stick it in your maintenance hole."
"We have to take more drastic action," said Berkeley Councilwoman Kate Harrison who had initiated the legislation.“
Oops you missed a spot :)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qae03boj7lU&t=1m
Why is this comment hidden?
Aw it's edited and my youtube joke makes no sense anymore.
what benefit does this ban on nat gas provide? natural gas is a waste byproduct of oil drilling; what can't get used is just flared off at the rig. california gets 40% of it's electricity from nat gas, so one effect of this is just increasing electricity use, and pulling energy through the power transmission system is much less efficient than simply burning on site where heat is the end use.
Yeah I'm as big a treehugger as anybody & I really feel like this is some mis-placed feelgoodery.
Nevermind that Berkeley remains overwhelmingly auto-centric.
Yeah, I was really surprised about that when I was there. I always assumed it was a more walkable area for some reason.
Even around the university is very auto centric
I visited Berkeley when I was applying to grad schools (they rejected me eventually) and taking the BART from my friend's SF apartment to campus was a whole-morning affair.
https://home.howstuffworks.com/gas-vs-electric-cooking.htm
Are we even sure electric has a lower footprint?
“Nevertheless, does one have any advantages over the other, particularly for the casual chefs among us? Because gas burners provide instant heat, and cooks have greater control over the temperatures, they're generally more energy efficient than their electric competitors [source: Directgov]. When you turn on a gas stove, you instantly get a flame, whereas electric stoves often take longer to heat and cool. Also, newer models that use an electric ignition rather than a continually-burning pilot light use up to 40 percent less gas [source: State of Minnesota].
The heat we feel from electric stoves traces back to coal-burning power plants [source: TreeHugger]. According to the Rocky Mountain Institute, this process spends three or four units of fuel in exchange for one unit of electricity [source: Cureton and Reed]. At the same time, gas stovetops are not environmentally perfect either, since they hook up to natural gas pipelines.”
They seemed to be making a case for the use of electric induction ranges vs gas ranges, hence the demonstration of the chocolate fondue during the meeting. I've never used electric induction myself, but was curious to the overall energy efficiency compared to gas.
"A major difference between a gas and induction stovetop is that induction is significantly more efficient than gas – food being cooked with induction will receive 90% of the heat generated, as opposed to only 40-55% for gas. This keeps your kitchen much cooler and more comfortable while you prepare meals. Induction cooking also decreases risk of burns and accidental fires, as there is no open flame and the cookware itself is the only heat source." https://www.pcrichard.com/library/blogArticle/induction-vs-gas-vs-electric-cooktops/2300371.pcra
Still that's just one appliance. I'd be curious to see how other appliances stack up gas vs. electric in terms of efficiency. BTW, the coal-burning power plants quoted above, aren't really the source of electricity for California (only 4.3%). Ironically, the greatest portion of CA's electrical power comes from ... wait for it ... natural gas.
I think this was probably much like tduds said, this is a lot of feelgoodery, but probably will have some unintended consequences. But for now lets the city continue to tap their natural reserves of smugness.
Electric is more expensive too from my experience.
I think that is generally true. Not sure about Berkeley, and too lazy to look it up myself.
I'm sure there is someone out there who bought a Tesla in order to save the planet, and then is using a gas-powered generator to charge it overnight. That feels like the level of thought that went into this ban on natural gas.
Yeah. Hopefully when those people storm Area 51 they will find the perpetual motion machine.
bans natural gas in new buildings
rigorously votes against increased density and public transportation
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