Make the Switch
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Transitioning gas heating appliances to zero-emission electric alternatives in the Bay Area could prevent up to 89 premature deaths annually due to a reduction in PM2.5 pollution.
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Replacing gas heating appliances in Bay Area homes and buildings with electric alternatives could deliver up to $930 million annually in health benefits.
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Homes and buildings in California generate four times more NOx pollution than California’s gas power plants and nearly two-thirds as much NOx as California’s 16 million passenger cars.
California can deliver cleaner air to communities across the state by cleaning up pollution from gas appliances.
The technology needed to eliminate this pollution – the electric heat pump – is readily available, and provides key climate, health, and resiliency co-benefits. Phasing out gas appliances in the Bay Area would deliver a more significant reduction in NOx pollution than eliminating all of the region’s gasoline passenger cars.
BACKGROUND
Ozone pollution is so severe across California that a majority of air districts fail, year after year, to meet legally mandated federal air quality standards that protect health. More than half of all Californians live in areas that exceed the most stringent 70 ppb ozone standard — and 99% of disadvantaged communities in California live in an ozone nonattainment area.
To achieve federal air quality standards for ozone pollution, the Bay Area Air Quality Management District (“Air District”) is developing zero-NOx emissions standards for home furnaces and water heaters with a plan for an equitable, affordable transition. Zero-NOx standards will ensure a transition from polluting appliances to clean, healthy alternatives.