LOS ANGELES, April 30, 2018 –  Southern California Gas Co. (SoCalGas) today joined Cal State University, Long Beach (CSULB) faculty and students at a showcase of research projects that focus on modernizing natural gas technologies, reducing methane emissions and advancing renewable natural gas. The event took place at CSULB’s annual Engineering Innovation Expo where undergraduate seniors from CSULB College of Engineering presented innovative research projects, funded by SoCalGas, to faculty, peers and experienced engineers. Photos the project are available via this link.

"SoCalGas has being partnering with CSULB College of Engineering for several years to provide students the opportunity to showcase their creativity and problem-solving capability through developing solutions to very interesting and difficult topics. Some of these projects continue our efforts in developing equipment and applications that deliver meaningful emissions reductions. Since 1990, our energy efficiency programs have reduced emissions equal to taking 700,000 cars off the road,” said Rodger R. Schwecke, senior vice president of Gas Transmission, Storage and Engineering at SoCalGas and a 1983 chemical engineering graduate. “Every year these students amaze me with their work and real-world solutions showing the engineering students at CSULB are well-positioned to be the future leaders in the energy industry.”

“SoCalGas challenges our top engineering students to develop new solutions to technical problems as their Senior Design Project,” said Professor Parviz Yavari in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at California State University, Long Beach. “It’s exciting for our students to come up with solutions that may end up benefiting individuals and families in the real world.”  

SoCalGas’ sponsored projects challenged students with the following three assignments:

• Develop a low-nitrogen-oxide-emitting cooktop that uses a less polluting combination of hydrogen and natural gas. The burner could serve in various applications including cooking, space and water heating, or clothes drying.
• Create a hydrogen pipe that would fit inside existing natural gas pipelines to save on the cost of digging new pipelines to advance the transport of pure hydrogen from producers to consumers.
• Design an economically feasible prototype that utilizes food waste and other organics from campus and the surrounding community to produce renewable natural gas to heat buildings on campus.   

Across the company’s service territory, SoCalGas supports technology-based learning and encouraging success in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM). Last year, alone SoCalGas provided nearly $1.3 million in grants to hundreds of educational organizations in Southern California. Over the last five years SoCalGas provided $400,000 in grants to advance research at CSULB’s College of Engineering.

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About SoCalGas
Headquartered in Los Angeles, SoCalGas® is the largest natural gas distribution utility in the United States, providing clean, safe, affordable and reliable natural gas service to 21.7 million customers in Central and Southern California. Its service territory spans 22,000 square miles from Fresno to the Mexican border, reaching more than 550 communities through 5.9 million meters and 101,000 miles of pipeline. More than 90 percent of Southern California single-family home residents use natural gas for home heat and hot water. In addition, natural gas plays a key role in providing electricity to Californians—about 60 percent of electric power generated in the state comes from gas-fired power plants.  

SoCalGas has served communities in California for 150 years and is committed to being a leader in the region’s clean energy future. The company is working to accelerate the use of renewable natural gas, a carbon-neutral or carbon-negative fuel created by capturing and conditioning greenhouse gas emissions from farms, landfills and wastewater treatment plants. SoCalGas is a subsidiary of Sempra Energy (NYSE: SRE), a Fortune 500 energy services holding company based in San Diego. For more information visit socalgas.com/newsroom or connect with SoCalGas on Twitter (@SoCalGas), Instagram (@SoCalGas) and Facebook.