As of the end of 2020, AGA has engaged the services of Dr. Howard Levinsky, recently retired from Det Norske Veritas (Norway) and Germanischer Lloyd (Germany) (DNV GL) and formerly of the University of Groningen (Netherlands) and Gasunie to provide support on combustion fundamentals associated with natural gas/hydrogen blends.  Dr. Levinsky has published extensively on the subject of natural gas/hydrogen blends work in Europe in support of European Union consideration of blending hydrogen with declining natural gas production from The Netherlands Groningen gas field.  He has been active on natural gas/hydrogen issues under several prominent International Standards Organization (ISO) working groups examining implications of natural gas/hydrogen blends for the European gas market.  Dr. Levinsky’s curriculum vitae (c.v.) will be posted on the BECS Committee website in the coming weeks.  He had previously supported AGA  end use codes and standards work on natural gas interchangeability in the early 2000s when compatibility of potential LNG imports with U. S. natural gases was in question.  Initial assignments of Dr. Levinsky will be to look at the limits of using standard natural gas interchangeability metrics such as the empirically-derived Wobbe index for characterizing natural gas/hydrogen blends and summarizing oxides of nitrogen (NOx) formation from natural gas/hydrogen combustion using different appliance burner types and input conditions.  Both of these activities will have near-term implications for the introduction of natural gas/hydrogen blends into the U. S. gas system.  Limitations of Wobbe number use will be important in capturing interchangeability of blends in the U. S. system since most recent interstate natural gas pipeline tariffs use Wobbe number limits in gas specifications.  Since NOx emissions are limited under U. S. air pollution regulations and some appliance certifications, understanding of how natural gas/hydrogen blends affect NOx emissions performance is likely to be very important in understanding their effect on appliance emissions factors and standards compliance.

 

 

In coordination with SoCalGas and AHAM, AGA’s Ted Williams will participate in next week’s March 2^nd CEC Staff Workshop (Notice Attached) covering an upcoming solicitation for research “to determine the impact of gas stove interventions on children and asthma.”  The Workshop title, “Randomized Trial Study to Determine the Impact of Gas Stove Interventions on Children with Asthma,” presumes an impact of gas-fired stoves in development and exacerbation of childhood asthma (i.e., in the absence of “intervention”), which is contradicted by federal agencies responsible for juvenile asthma, combustion appliance health and safety, and participation in national programs such as the Asthma and Allergy Network.  That presumption is also contracted by major studies of childhood asthma development and exacerbation such as the 2013 International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Childhood (ISAAC) study of 512,707 primary and secondary school children from 108 respiratory medicine centers and 47 countries in which “no evidence” was detected “of an association between the use of gas as a cooking fuel and either asthma symptoms or asthma diagnosis.”  Despite this broad, international perspective on childhood asthma and gas cooking appliance emissions, the CEC solicitation proposes to address the following “requirements:”

 

Eighteen voting members of the TC returned ballots on the First Draft of the Standard, approving all 35 “first revisions” developed by the TC and before proceeding to the “First Draft Report” and public review of the draft, which is scheduled to conclude in May of 2021.  The Standard, initiated upon a proposal from The BECS Committee,  covers “the selection, design, application, installation, location, performance, inspection, testing, and maintenance of fuel gas detection and warning equipment in buildings and structures [for detection] of fuel gases that could pose a life or property safety risk.”  AGA voted to approve 31 or the 35 first revisions, abstaining on four items because proposed changes in the maximum threshold detection limits proposed in those first revision proposals would disqualify currently available combustible gas detector products.  These products, listed to UL Standard 1484, “Standard for Residential Gas Detectors“ and the only national consensus standard listing for combustible gas detectors would leave consumers choosing to install combustible gas detectors without products compliant with the NFPA 715 requirements as proposed.  AGA has recommended to members and consumers combustible gas detectors listed to UL Standard 1484 since products listed to that standard became available.  No safety-related deficiencies in the UL listed product detection thresholds have been identified by UL, consumer agencies, NFPA, AGA members, or other parties.  Codes and standards staff has expressed additional concerns with the NFPA 715 detection threshold changes, but the disqualification of available products was the only concern cited in the AGA abstention.  It is anticipated that additional discussion of detection thresholds will arise in the second draft phase of the standards development process.  AGA nevertheless supports the progress on development of Standard 715 as a means of enhancing gaseous fuels end user safety.

 

 

The ICC held the first virtual meeting of its Pandemic Task Force this week, with AGA staff participating as an “interested party.”  The launch of the Task Force, discussed in the February 12^th “Friday Update” is developing work groups to organize ICC response in guidance to state and local building officials and around the family of ICC codes.  The International Fuel Gas Code is identified as one of several codes to address issues associated with mechanical systems, plumbing, and ventilation system code requirements.  On this week’s call, AGA emphasized the need for coordination with other organizations developing guidance for buildings and building systems such as the ASHRAE Epidemic Task Force, which has developed a wide variety of occupancy-specific guidance and guidance associate with infected occupants, vulnerable populations, ventilation systems design and usage, and other aspects relating to the built environment and potential for transmitting airborne pathogens.

 

 

Follow up on its ICC International Energy Conservation Code  amendment strategy webinar discussed in the February 12^th “Friday Update,” NBI hosted its BETR webinar on Thursday.  Access to the webinar recording and presentation are available here.  The webinar presented its Roadmap study analysis, emphasizing it as a “first-of-its-kind study developed to help accelerate increased adoption of highly efficient electric technologies that displace fossil fuel technologies [covering]… 1) characterizing the status of building electrification technologies; 2) identifying roadblocks to adoption; and 3) providing targeted, near- and long-term actions needed to support building electrification.”  Notable was the aggressive objectives of the presenters for replacing gas-fired appliances, not just for installing electric appliances in new buildings.  At least one gas industry attendee of the webinar expressed dismay with the presentation approach and the unvarnished intent to remove gas appliances from the U. S. building stock.  However, this attendee also correctly noted that no estimates of cost to consumers or other market participants for executing the Roadmap were presented.  The neglect of discussing costs is an increasingly common feature of such electrification advocacy, stretching from the NBI efforts to the California CEC proceedings where replacing gas-fired cooking products is being promoted.