Having considerable expertise in biofuels and bioenergy, in
summer 2019 NNFCC were successful in securing a contract to examine the
potential for BioLPG production and use as a fuel in the UK.
BioLPG (biopropane) is a renewable and sustainable
alternative to conventional LPG produced from fossil fuels. On behalf of its
membership, Liquid Gas UK (formerly UKLPG) commissioned NNFCC to assess the
potential for biopropane produced or sourced for use in the UK, and to
determine whether there is a credible pathway for biopropane supply that
satisfies deep decarbonisation objectives for heating by the 2040s. The review
considered the following areas:
- Market opportunities
- Supply chain potential, including:
- Review of technologies for bioLPG production
- Assessment of feedstock availability
- Deployment potential and action plan
LPG consists mostly of propane; a by-product of the
distillation of crude oil. By producing propane from biomass, BioLPG can replace
fossil LPG in the same applications with much lower lifecycle greenhouse gas
emissions. NNFCC drew upon previous experience of market analysis and applied
the same skills to identify key market opportunities for BioLPG. Being such a
versatile fuel with excellent properties, NNFCC pinpointed numerous potential
avenues including in the petrochemicals industry, but also in everything from road
transport and home heating to mobile cooking and forklift trucks.
In road transport, NNFCC found that converting a car from
petrol to LPG can save almost 20% in greenhouse gas emissions per kilometre and
when using BioLPG the saving can increase to as much as 90%. Like other gaseous
fuels, bioLPG has other co-benefits too such as low emissions of particulate
matter (PM), sulphur dioxide (SO2) and oxides of nitrogen (NOx). It
can also be used in fuel cells and range extenders for electric vehicles,
complimenting efforts to electrify transport and supporting long term decarbonisation
targets.
With an in-depth technical knowledge of biofuels production,
the NNFCC team were able to identify the most promising technologies to supply
the UK market. Currently most BioLPG is produced from just one process; as a by-product
in the production of hydrogenated vegetable oil (HVO), a type of biodiesel.
However, NNFCC identified a number of other potential production routes that
may be more commercially viable for the LPG industry in the long term. NNFCC critically
compared multiple technologies including gasification, pyrolysis, aqueous phase
reforming and fermentation and produced a roadmap to achieve 100% BioLPG by
2040. NNFCC’s report contains several useful technology factsheets on the
different pathways for the production of bioLPG.
As shown in the report, BioLPG has great
potential in the UK across multiple sectors and there are an assortment of key
strengths and investment opportunities to grow the UK market and reduce
dependency on imports.