The Rise of Renewable Propane

by Tucker Perkins (Propane Education and Research Council/ACT News) The push for clean transportation continues to drive fleets toward low-emissions energy options, giving rise to the adoption of more renewable energy sources, including renewable propane. Renewable propane offers the same benefits as conventional propane — reliability, portability, and power — but with the added benefit of reduced emissions compared with other energy sources.

Renewable propane is made from a variety of renewable feedstocks, including camelina plant oil, vegetable oil, animal fats, used cooking oil, soybean oil and animal tallow. At the point of combustion, renewable propane’s carbon intensity — the carbon emitted for every unit of energy it produces — is four times lower than conventional propane and five times lower than diesel, according to the Propane Education & Research Council. Renewable propane has one of the lowest carbon intensity scores, meaning it can help businesses meet their environmental goals efficiently and reliably.

In 2023, the transportation industry further embraced renewable propane with notable new adoptions. In Hartford, Connecticut, the Pride Travel Center, which is known for being the first in the United States to house multiple alternative energy options, now offers renewable propane at its facility. In Raleigh, North Carolina, the city moved a portion of its fleet to run on renewable propane with a goal to reduce city-wide greenhouses gas emissions by 80% by 2050. And in Massachusetts, NGL Supply Wholesale brought renewable propane to its terminal in Springfield, providing fleets all around the area with a renewable propane option.

Currently, more than 4.5 million gallons of renewable propane are produced every year. While it is sometimes used by itself as a vehicle fuel, renewable propane can also be added as an innovative blend to provide more fleets an opportunity to reap the low-carbon benefits of the energy source. Within the next few years, 100 million gallons of renewable propane is expected to be available with a total potential of 300 million gallons in the next decade. In fact, by 2050, renewable propane could meet half the world’s demand for non-chemical propane, according to the World LP Gas Association. The push for cleaner liquid fuels such as sustainable aviation fuel and renewable diesel fuel will lead to a sharp increase in renewable propane production.

That ambitious growth is also possible thanks to emerging research on how renewable propane can be produced. One of the newer production methods is to use the oil contained in camelina seeds. Camelina has one of the lowest carbon scores, with studies showing it can reduce greenhouse gas emissions by up to 60%. Because camelina is not a food crop, the production of camelina as a renewable feedstock is highly scalable, allowing for production to ramp up quickly as more adoptions take place. Recent studies also show renewable propane can be made by breaking down plastics, such as polyethylene and polypropylene, and by converting captured carbon dioxide into renewable propane.

As production and demand continues to grow, it’s only a matter of time before renewable propane is in most propane autogas fleets in America. For more information on renewable propane, visit Propane.com/Renewable-Propane. READ MORE

Excerpt from ACT News: All the routes are handled by near-zero-emission propane school buses. It’s propane – the same fuel that helps our state (Florida) out after almost every hurricane, when gasoline and diesel may not be available.

Back in 2009, our district (Indian River County School District in Vero Beach, Florida) faced a dilemma. We had to make adjustments to our school bus fleet to meet new emissions standards while simultaneously navigating government-mandated budget cutbacks. Not a good situation, but my predecessors were prescient. They looked at fuels that would offer low cost of ownership and run much cleaner than diesel. They decided to buy three propane buses as a test. Fourteen years later, we’re exclusively propane.

The financial benefits are myriad for us. We paid $3.56 per gallon for diesel; with propane, we pay $1.68. Plus, because propane operates clean, there are fewer oil changes and filters needed, which is both a cost and time savings. I checked with our warehouse foreman, and the basic preventative maintenance cost of a propane bus is $18.84. The same cost on our diesel buses runs $65.98 for air and fuel filters

Propane buses also reduce noise levels. You can have a normal conversation with someone on a propane bus without having to talk over a diesel engine. Our drivers are better able to concentrate on the roads, and there is less unsavory noise in our community.

Our drivers do not need to sacrifice performance, reliability, or range. Propane buses have the same power, towing capacity, and torque as diesel buses, and they can travel as far as 400 miles on a single fueling.

For fill-ups, we use mobile fueling, where a propane bobtail truck comes daily to fuel our buses. We are currently considering an on-site fueling station, similar to neighboring districts that have installed a propane station on property. It costs less to install a propane station than any other type of fuel, including gasoline, diesel, CNG, or electric.

Propane buses are already here, with more than 22,000 operating nationwide, transporting 1.3 million kids to school in 49 states. There are about 500 on Florida roads. I encourage state school districts and bus contractors to take a vigilant look at propane buses, because for us, it was the option that made the most sense. READ MORE