By Elizabeth Long

In a virtual meeting per state orders, the Somerville Commission for Energy Use and Climate Change (CEUCC) met on Wednesday, August 12, to discuss plans for a more sustainable future, and all the steps in between.

The co-executive directors, Zeyneb Magavi and Audrey Schulman, presented plans for a microdistrict with the intention to cut carbon emissions and reduce fracking. This plan was presented by HEET or Home Energy Efficient Team. They plan to cut carbon emissions now by driving system changes through methods that would take zero money from industry, specifically gas workers.

Fracking has become a major problem when it comes to gas. It has caused indoor air pollution from gas to become more apparent, which is a potentially explosive problem. Over a 20-year period, fracking increases the global warming potential over 80 times more than CO2. The state is attempting to solve it by ripping up the streets and replacing the pipes, a 9-billion-dollar investment, but that isn’t a sustainable long-term solution.

The gas system, in appearance, looks similar to a tree, which manifested the metaphor ‘pruning the tree.’ When it comes to dismantling this system for a more sustainable one, “You don’t take it down from the bottom, you take it down piece by piece starting from the top,” said Audrey Schulman. The solution to this gas problem is the GeoMicroDisrict.

With one of the oldest gas systems in the country, Massachusetts has many pipes that are prone to leak. Creating a GeoMicroDistrict would fix this problem because it allows people to share energy rather than overusing it.

That is when the Borehole Thermal Energy Storage technique comes in. This method essentially dumps summer heat into the ground, keeping it there. The ground being the longest and cheapest heat holder we have, and a much more sustainable option at that. When it is cold, it allows the energy to be shared not just over space, but over time. The cost of thermal energy sources is very low, it just depends on the capacity of what it is being stored in. This means that there is much less necessary infrastructure needed to provide more energy.

In a feasibility study done by Buro Happold Engineering, they determined the technical feasibility per street segment to implement this system. Low-density residential areas would produce excess cooling and medium-density mixed-use areas would produce excess heating. If we interconnected these options, it would solve the problem and allow the system to get to the point of a high-density mixed-use with an additional gas backup. There were other methods of Thermal Management like cooled irrigation water and melted snow on sidewalks.

The CEUCC explained a gas to geogrid plan for Somerville with the following steps. First, learning to educate others such as DPW, developers, and residents. Then identify pilot sites for Somerville to lead. Finally, think decades ahead, reduce risks, and make a plan such as strategic abandonment, evolution, and maintenance. “Looking at our gas system now, we have to maintain it in order to stay safe” said Schulman. While safety is important, it would not be a question when looking towards a sustainable future.

Gas companies’ rates start lower because they socialize the cost among the community, but will depreciate over the next 50 years and end up costing more in the long run in order to maintain and invest in this system that isn’t sustainable. Gas doesn’t offer the energy savings of geo-thermal which is a renewable thermal grid that powers and supports the power grid. Schulman continued to say, “We all want what’s best for the next generation.” The Somerville CEUCC looks forward to a more sustainable future that reduces emissions in a cost-effective manner.