Propane Being Branded in the Fuel Diversity Mix

MPGA filmed a fuel diversity video, featuring biojet fuel being used in private jets and large commercial passenger jets. Like autogas, biojet fuel is part of the fuel diversity energy mix that will fuel our future.

Propane Being Branded in the Fuel Diversity Mix

While a number of environmental groups and news media demonize fossil fuel, they ignore the role of fuel diversity. Many energy experts believe the fuel of our future will be a mix of fossil fuels and fuels that are in the development stage.

“The electrify-everything crowd is only focused on eliminating fossil fuels and thinks solar and wind can provide all of our energy needs,” said MPGA President Rob Vandemark. “It’s very short sited thinking.”

The MPGA is highlighting the importance of propane as one of the leading fuels in the fuel diversity mix which includes Biodiesel, NCG and some non-fossil fuels.

“Our MPGA environmental campaign shows how every home owner in our state is part of a home heating, green solution. The campaign also explains the role autogas plays in Michigan’s fuel-diversity,” said Derek Dalling, MPGA Executive Director. “The Field of Flight air show in Battle Creek was the perfect backdrop for the association’s fuel diversity video.”

“I’m optimistic about the propane industry’s role in fuel diversity. Our fuel has a low carbon foot print and it’s becoming even cleaner with Renewable Propane coming on line. The renewable version of propane is a mix of waste residues and sustainably sourced materials — including agricultural waste products, cooking oil, and meat fats — rather than fossil fuels like natural gas. In many cases, it’s produced as a co-product of biodiesel production.”

While filming an MPGA video during the Battle Creek “Field of Flight” air show, our marketing team’s digital news agency filmed a segment on the US Air Force’s F-35 Lighting Team.

Air Force Flies on Fuel Diversity:

Fuel diversity includes new fuels that are being developed.

In 2020, Air Force Operational Energy endorsed a pilot program to demonstrate a technology that converts CO2 into operationally viable aviation fuel called E-Jet.The project hit a major milestone last year when the fuel successfully produced jet fuel from CO2, proving the process worked and setting up the conditions to create the synthetic carbon-neutral fuel in larger quantities.“History has taught us that our logistics supply chains are one of the first things the enemy attacks. As peer adversaries pose more and more of a threat, what we do to reduce our fuel and logistics demand will be critical to avoid risk and win any potential war,” said Roberto Guerrero, deputy assistant secretary of the Air Force for operational energy.

Security was on high alert due to the importance of the F-35 fighter jets at the Field of Flight in Battle Creek Mich. According to the military officials these jets are the most lethal, survivable and connected fighter aircraft in the world, giving pilots an advantage against any adversary

Commercial Passenger Jets Flying Biofuel:

The aviation industry is one of the world’s biggest emitters of carbon – and this carbon is emitted at higher altitudes, which is potentially even more harmful than sea level emissions.

Biodiesel and renewable propane formed from biomass produce far less greenhouse gases than the crude oil. Supporters also argue that biofuel production is less environmentally damaging than drilling for oil. Biojet fuel is a drop-in type of fuel that can be used interchangeably with traditional jet fuel without significant alteration of an aircraft’s engines.

In 2008, Virgin Atlantic flew a Boeing 747 with kerosene blended with palm oil and coconut oil.

Article Source: CR Marketing, Air Force Operational Energy, Intelligent Partnership, and Investor’s Business Daily

CHEMISTRY

Propane is a 3-carbon molecule, naturally low-carbon. It vaporizes when exposed to air with negligible effects on the ozone. Propane doesn't harm the soil and is not hazardous to drinking water or marine ecosystems. Propane is not mined like battery materials or extracted like oil. It is primarily manufactured from natural gas as a by-product of methane purification. Propane’s low carbon intensity is why it is an approved clean alternative fuel under the Clean Air Act.

RENEWABLE

A renewable version of propane is ramping up. It's produced by converting plant and vegetable oils, waste greases, and animal fat into fuel. It delivers a high-energy conversion so BTU’s aren’t wasted, and is price competitive and carbon neutral, meaning no new carbon is added to the atmosphere when renewable propane is burned.

ENERGY

The US Energy Star program gives propane a source site ratio of 1.01, compared to 3.03 for electricity from the grid. This means it takes 3.03 units of electricity to produce and deliver one unit of energy to a home, compared to only 1.01 for propane.

PROPANE ENSURES EQUITY

Access to clean, affordable and renewable energy like propane ensures equity on the path to zero. Urban and rural low-income households, especially African American and Latino households, spend roughly three times as much of their income on energy costs as non-low-income households. In February 2021, EIA reported that electricity was 68% more expensive per million BTUs than propane. Energy should be affordable, so that no one has to go without, but the share of income that low-income households spent on electricity rose by 1/3 in the last decade. Everyone should have access to clean energy and home energy management tools, but utility programs that promote rooftop solar power, electric vehicles, and home energy storage are largely inaccessible to low-income households. Emission-free renewable energy isn’t free. Net-metering gives solar customers a credit on their bill when their rooftop panels generate excess power and the utility buys back the power. The power is paid for by other non-solar customers, including low-income households.

PROPANE DECARBONIZES

Clean and renewable energy, like propane, accelerates Michigan's decarbonization efforts.
Decarbonization requires more cleaner energy options. The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Scientific and Technical Information says that large emissions reductions are achievable through a broad range of opportunities, including the use of low carbon alternatives like propane. The electric grid isn’t always the cleanest answer. Currently, propane-fueled medium- and heavy-duty vehicles provide a lower carbon footprint solution in 38 U.S. states when compared to medium- and heavy-duty EVs charged from the electrical grid. Michigan is propane country. Our state’s propane reserves are abundant and clean burning which is why numerous fleets including busses, trucks and city vehicles run on propane.