What Does Net Zero Mean and Why Does it Matter?

In the Great Lakes region, climate change is leading to hotter summer days and greener winter months as snowfall becomes less frequent. But a steaming hot sun beating down on the earth isn't all fun – keeping the indoors cool and refreshing leads to a constant hum of air conditioning and, therefore, increased demand for energy. But while a warmer climate may sound preferable to some, changes in the climate can come with more frequent and destructive storms. Severe weather, strong wind gusts and ice storms can topple utility poles and snap powerlines, putting linemen crews to work restoring power and hardening the energy system to prepare for future storms.

Climate experts say utilities across the nation may need more infrastructure to keep up with this energy demand, but the global solution to limit the impacts of climate change is working toward net zero greenhouse gas emissions.

What is Net Zero Emissions & Why Does It Matter?

Net zero means implementing carbon capture opportunities to balance or offset remaining emissions. Reaching net zero means that there is an equal and corresponding carbon reduction for each ton of carbon emitted, which adds up to zero new emissions.

Excessive greenhouse gases, such as carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions (carbon), are one of the main causes of climate change, with excessive emissions leading to rising global temperatures and increased natural disasters.

Some emissions are associated with sectors vital to our economies like transportation, agriculture, industrial and manufacturing processes, waste management and energy production. However, achieving 100% zero emissions is not yet possible due to high costs and a lack of available alternatives. Therefore, net zero can offset the remaining emissions we are yet to prevent by implementing carbon capture opportunities.

Why we care about the effects of climate change?

High heat and storm intensity trends are particularly important system planning considerations. Air conditioning use on high-heat days imposes a significant electric load on our system. As temperatures rise over the next several decades, we may need more energy supply and higher voltage lines to meet demand. Severe storms and wind gusts can also cause more damage to our poles and wires. Here at Consumers Energy, we're committed to delivering on our reliability promise, which may mean more crews to support restoration and system upgrades and improvements such as additional tree trimming and moving more lines underground.

How will climate change impact Michigan?

We recently teamed up with Great Lakes Integrated Sciences and Assessments (GLISA) experts to learn how climate change may impact Michigan. We found that the effects of climate change in the Great Lakes region aren’t centuries away; they’ve already begun.

• Temperatures across the Great Lakes region increased 2.3°F from 1951 to 2017.
• Annual precipitation totals increased 14% from 1951 to 2017.
• Heavy precipitation events, defined as the amount of precipitation falling in the heaviest 1% of storms, increased by 35% from 1951 to 2017.
• Storm intensity has increased, a pattern expected to continue as climate change effects become more pronounced.

All these changes could be costly. Learn more about how our climate is changing and our plans to adapt in our 2022 Climate Change Risk, Vulnerability and Resiliency Report.

How does climate change relate to net zero goals?

It takes a global effort to reduce climate change effects, and energy companies are vital to that effort. That's why reaching net zero emissions is so important. Net zero goals help reduce the amount of greenhouse gas in the atmosphere and our impact on climate change. For us, it's more than a goal – it's what's right for our planet. We're already implementing a plan to reach net zero carbon and methane emissions.

How do you offset carbon emissions?

Carbon reduction is only one part of reaching net zero. Carbon offsets are projects that reduce carbon dioxide emissions to negate the impact of one's carbon footprint. These can include renewable energy and methane capture projects, and carbon offsets fund these efforts.

We recently launched MI Clean Air, a voluntary carbon offset option that enables residential and business customers to support preserving trees in Michigan to offset carbon emissions. Trees are natural carbon sinks because they absorb carbon dioxide for photosynthesis.

Additional carbon reduction is anticipated through increasing customer participation in money-saving demand response and energy efficiency programs for residential and business customers to lower energy use.

Our Clean Energy Plan

Our Clean Energy Plan will help us reach net zero carbon emissions by 2040 for our electric business. Retiring our remaining coal-fired generation plants as we add solar and wind energy would also reduce our carbon emissions by about 60% by 2040 and make us among the first energy companies in the country to go coal-free.

Our net zero carbon plan would also replace our coal-fired generation sources with cleaner energy – about 90% coming directly from renewable resources such as wind, solar and hydroelectric power. We're already increasing solar energy and plan to add around 8,000 megawatts to power homes and businesses by 2025. Natural gas plants and improved battery storage will help us meet demand and deliver on our promise of reliable energy while saving our customers hundreds of millions of dollars over the next 20 years.

How are we reducing methane and carbon emissions from our natural gas system?

We're one of the nation's largest natural gas utilities, with more than 28,000 miles of distribution mains, about 2,400 miles of transmission pipeline and one of the country's largest natural gas storage systems. While this helps us deliver the natural gas our customers need to heat homes, dry clothes and cook on your gas stovetop, it also produces methane emissions.

Achieving net zero emissions means balancing the impact of methane emissions traced to losses along our system, carbon emissions from burning natural gas and other greenhouse gas emissions from natural gas suppliers who produce and transport natural gas to our system. Our Methane Reduction Plan outlines our goals to reach net zero methane emissions from our company's natural gas system by 2030, a commitment we made in 2019. The plan includes infrastructure improvements, process changes to avoid and minimize methane emissions and innovative leak detection tools, including vehicles that sniff out leaks. Our methane reduction efforts include modernizing our natural gas operations to ensure safe, reliable, affordable and clean natural gas.

Our Methane Reduction Plan outlines our goals to reach net zero methane emissions from our company's natural gas system by 2030, a commitment we made in 2019. The plan includes infrastructure improvements, process changes to avoid and minimize methane emissions and innovative leak detection tools, including vehicles that sniff out leaks. Our methane reduction efforts include modernizing our natural gas operations to ensure safe, reliable, affordable and clean natural gas.

In 2022, we expanded our commitment to greenhouse gas reductions, announcing a goal for our entire natural gas system, including customer and supplier emissions, to reach net zero carbon by 2050, with an interim goal of 20% reduction by 2030.

We’re also investing in the development and use of renewable natural gas, which captures greenhouse gasses from the decomposition of organic wastes. Consumers Energy is set to begin construction on a biodigester at Swisslane Farms in Kent County in 2023 to convert manure into renewable natural gas. The closed biodigester will capture methane from manure, clean and condition it and inject it into existing gas pipelines. Capturing methane at this project alone is equivalent to removing about 4,000 gasoline vehicles from the road each year and will produce enough natural gas to heat about 900 homes.

How can I do my part to help reach net zero?

Although industries like ours can make the biggest difference, everyone can help reach net zero. For example:

• Switch from gas vehicles to natural gas or electric vehicles to substantially reduce greenhouse emissions.
• Reduce, reuse and recycle. Our own company is reaching its goal for reducing waste sent to landfills by adding collection bins, using recyclable materials and reducing and monitoring waste. Reducing organic wastes reduce emissions from landfills that receive it.
• Participate in our energy efficiency and demand response programs that can lower your energy bill while helping to reduce energy use and emissions.
• Use a smart thermostat and energy efficient lightbulbs and consider a free home energy assessment to learn about other ways to save energy.
• Purchase carbon offsets that are available to both our electric and natural gas utility customers.
• Support companies with net-zero goals.

Achieving net zero emissions is no easy feat, especially alone, so we need to work together as a community towards this goal. If you have any questions about our net zero efforts, please get in touch with us today!