NPGA: “We are fighting for consumer rights in the US”

The United States produces over 110 million m³ of propane a year. About two thirds of that output goes to export, making the US by far the world's largest exporter of LPG.

Propane plays an important role in the decarbonization of the American economy. NPGA and its members want to reduce the environmentally harmful emissions of harmful substances from the combustion of hydrocarbons. That is why NPGA supports efforts to lower the carbon dioxide intensity of industry through the development of renewable liquefied gas technologies and related substances in order to radically cut emissions, for example by replacing diesel with liquefied gas in school buses and as a bunkering fuel. Propane is an alternative fuel with no impact on the ozone layer. It has been recognized as a clean fuel by the US Environmental Protection Agency under the Clean Air Act. Thanks to its use, many Americans are able to cook, enjoy outdoor activities, and work in agriculture and industrial processing. Propane is also used as an alternative motor fuel for road vehicles and industrial forklift trucks.

Federal and local attempts to phase out LPG - NPGA's support for consumer choice

Since 2019 certain federal agencies, state governments and many local authorities have been making efforts to gradually phase out or severely restrict the use of LPG. These efforts are aimed above all at labeling conventional fuels such as LPG as environmentally unfriendly while favoring electricity as an energy carrier. As in Europe, the emissions associated with electricity generation and the losses associated with the transmission and distribution of electricity are not taken into account. In fact, taking into account the full life cycle of energy commodities, in the case of the United States even LPG of fossil origin has a lower carbon footprint than electricity produced in the US.

In recent years NPGA has undertaken numerous efforts to keep LPG available to the public as a widely accessible source of energy. Those activities have included, among others:

• Federal legislative action, for example securing the support of Congress for five consumer choice bills that would prevent federal bodies from arbitrarily banning the use of gas.
• Action before federal agencies, for example active education on the environmental properties of LPG in proceedings before the US Department of Energy and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA);
• Action at state and local level, including proactive work on writing consumer choice provisions into state legislation that will make it harder for local authorities to attempt to arbitrarily ban gas appliances. In 2020-23 such measures were already enacted in 25 states;
• Participation in litigation in cases concerning the unlawful banning of the use of gas-fired appliances;
• Participation in 30 national and international standard-setting bodies that establish technical codes, in order to guard against technical requirements being used as a tool of the anti-gas agenda;
• Public relations and branding campaigns for the LPG industry, focused on evidence-based analyses of environmental and public health impact, reliability, sustainability and affordability;
• Coalition building, including cooperation with other industry organizations on integrated advocacy work;
• Development of the renewable propane market.

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Opportunities for the LPG industry

Combined heat and power (CHP) and autogas are examples of technologies in which we see opportunities for the growth of the low-emission propane market in the future.

Microgrids powered by propane and renewable propane, together with cogeneration systems, can provide clean, reliable and inexpensive backup and primary power. Wherever generating sets running on LPG are used in place of diesel, it is possible to cut greenhouse gas emissions drastically. Combining these technologies with renewable propane and other renewable energy sources can reduce emissions even further. 

In recent years, because of outages and concerns about the resilience of the power grid to natural disasters and failures, the market for electricity generation in LPG-fired installations has grown considerably. Hurricanes in the southeast, the deep freeze in Texas in 2021 and other natural disasters such as wildfires have caused numerous unplanned power outages. The market had to adapt to the new reality, among other things through the increased use of diesel generating sets to meet energy demand at times when the grid was down. Propane is a clean and reliable alternative to them.

NPGA and its members are proud of the role that propane and autogas  can play in reducing emissions now and in the future. Unlike in Poland, autogas has not become widespread in the transport sector in the United States. Recognizing the role that propane plays in decarbonizing our energy future, federal government agencies have decided to launch grants for the development of autogas-powered engines and for refueling infrastructure itself. NPGA and its partners from the Propane Education and Research Council believe that the most promising segment for the wide adoption of autogas in the US is the market for medium-sized fleet vehicles - for example school buses, police fleets, vehicles for transporting people with disabilities and postal carrier fleets.

Renewable propane for the future

Renewable propane (bioLPG) is available today and is an important part of the industry's future.  It combines the strengths of conventional propane - reliability, ease of transport, high calorific value and a favorable environmental profile - with even lower carbon dioxide emissions compared with other energy sources. Renewable LPG can be produced from a variety of renewable feedstocks; its most common source today is co-production with renewable diesel and sustainable aviation fuels made mainly from vegetable oils, animal fats or used cooking oil. In the US, however, a growing share of biopropane is made from camelina oil, produced from a common oilseed plant with very low soil requirements. According to estimates by the World Liquid Gas Association, by 2050 renewable propane could meet half of global demand for liquefied gas.

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Stephen Kaminski has been President and Managing Director of the National Propane Gas Association since 2019. He graduated with honors in chemical engineering from Johns Hopkins University and earned a Juris Doctor degree from Harvard Law School.

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Photos: National Propane Gas Association