From Guest Blogger Emily Folk: Can Renewable Propane Overtake Less Sustainable Fuels?

Renewable propane offers an identical composition to the conventional kind, making it suitable for any application compatible with that kind of fuel. This propane gets made with 100% renewable and raw materials, such as vegetable oil and waste residues. Despite these perks, could we ever reach a time when renewable propane — also known as biopropane — becomes more popular than less sustainable methods?

Researchers Are Progressing With Renewable Propane Creation Methods

So far, only a few companies are working in the renewable propane space. One of them is Neste, a business that recently made an agreement with Borealis, a company specializing in polyolefin solutions. Polyolefin is a type of polymer. Neste produces 100% renewable propane with proprietary technology, and Borealis wants to use it as renewable feedstock in some of its Belgian facilities.

Neste produces other kinds of renewable fuels too, and its methods reportedly allow the use of nearly any bio-based fat or oil as the raw material required for renewable propane. Neste’s techniques are perfected enough that other companies depend on them to help their own businesses thrive.

An earlier effort involved scientists at Imperial College London producing renewable propane by tinkering with a biological process. They focused on using E. coli, a well-known gut bacteria. The researchers’ approach paused the transition that converts fatty acids into cell membranes. Enzymes channeled the fatty acids along a different pathway, and that change caused the bacteria to make renewable propane for engines.

UPS Investigates Alternative Fuel Use

Renewable propane has not yet hit the mainstream, but someday, people may rely on it more often as part of other currently more widely available efforts that support carbon offsetting. A carbon offset is a certificate representing the reduction of a single metric ton of carbon emissions. Besides utilizing renewable energy for carbon offsetting, people can support projects that capture and destroy carbon emissions or those that store greenhouse gases. Certain industries, such as the logistics sector, are especially committed to reducing emissions however possible.

UPS showed its attention to the matter several years ago when it made a substantial investment in several companies that supply eco-friendly fuels, including renewable propane. More specifically, the company committed in 2015 to transition more than 12% of its purchased ground fuels to renewable options by 2017. It focused on renewable diesel for that project, but the business realized that the other renewable fuels made by those companies might prove worthy later for other planet-centered projects that UPS may launch in the future. That’s especially true because the company wants to find cost-effective and eco-friendly fuels to use throughout its brand.

Researchers Make a Near-Zero-Emissions Engine

Besides pondering whether renewable propane could someday overtake the popularity of the conventional kind, many people wonder about the feasibility of propane-powered cars. The ones they generally have in mind are those fueled by standard propane, but researchers achieved a milestone in 2019 that could change that viewpoint.

A team at ROUSH CleanTech built an ultra-low nitrogen oxide engine that runs on renewable propane. They envisioned it working well for the vehicles in commercial fleets, particularly medium-duty vehicles. Employees at ROUSH CleanTech showed off the pioneering engine at a three-stop roadshow tour in California.

One of the goals for those events was to educate attendees about the fact that the state has several programs to spur investment in emissions-reducing transportation technologies. Other states, too, are continually looking at ways to cut emissions related to transit and other activities. Having a renewable option helps the propane industry stay competitive as many places around the world prioritize renewables.

Still Outside the Mainstream

Renewable propane undeniably shows potential for facilitating a global shift toward more renewable energy. However, it won’t become more widely used than conventional propane anytime soon, if ever. Fascinating progress is happening that’s showing researchers what’s possible, but the research and real-world applications are niche and often don’t break into public consciousness. Still, that doesn’t mean companies should stop or cut investments for their renewable propane projects. Successfully moving to a renewable energy future means people must push boundaries and keep exploring. Those working with renewable propane embody such admirable characteristics.