Supported by U.S. natural gas and electric utilities, two industry research centers are collaborating on a $100 million effort to develop alternatives to natural gas.

Monthly US Natural Gas Consumption

The national Low-Carbon Resources Initiative is being shaped and implemented by researchers at the Gas Technology Institute (GTI) and the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI). Their goal is to bring several early-stage technologies to commercial scale by 2030. EPRI has committed $10 million to the multi-year project.

In the current climate change-driven push for electrification and decarbonization, a group of utilities last November helped the two industry think tanks to sign a memorandum of understanding. The initiative’s 18 primary utility supporters include the nation’s largest gas-only distributor,...