Liquid Gas UK Submission
About Us
Liquid Gas UK is the trade association for the Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) and biopropane (bioLPG) industry in the UK, representing companies who are LPG producers, distributors, equipment and service providers, and vehicle convertors. It is dedicated to the safe and effective development of LPG and bioLPG. Member companies cover 99% of the total LPG distributed in the UK.
About LPG and bioLPG
LPG is the lowest carbon conventional energy source available to off-grid homes and businesses in the UK, which provides immediate, expedient and cost-effective heat and energy. As LPG emits more than 33% fewer carbon emissions than coal and 15-20% fewer carbon emissions than oil[1], LPG is a transitional solution in its own right. It also emits virtually no NOx, SOx and Particulate Matter, enabling immediate air quality improvements.
BioLPG, alternatively known as biopropane, is a versatile, ‘drop-in’ renewable solution which can provide up to 90% emissions reduction compared to fossil based LPG.[2] Already available on the market today, bioLPG is chemically indistinct from LPG and can be used as it is, just like conventional LPG. This means it can be ‘dropped-in’ to existing supply chains and can be used by consumers in their existing heating appliances, stored in existing bulk tanks and cylinders, and transported using today’s infrastructure and skilled workforce.
LPG boilers offer a long-term, cost effective pathway to decarbonisation through the gradual introduction of bioLPG into the mix; this means over time carbon emissions will increasingly reduce. It is the industry’s ambition to offer 100% renewable energy solutions by 2040.[3]
How should the Government’s net zero aviation strategy support UK industry in the development and uptake of technologies, fuels and infrastructure to deliver net zero shipping and aviation?
There are significant opportunities for production of Sustainable Aviation Fuels (SAF) in the UK, but also importantly a market for and need to capture co-products of SAF. When UK Government support investment and development of SAF, policy makers must not ignore the role for their co-products which enables best use of waste or biomass feedstocks. Considering there is not an unlimited availability for feedstocks for biofuels, it’s vital that those producing sustainable aviation fuel are incentivised to deliver bioLPG into the off-grid market, so that it can be used for heating hard-to-treat homes, businesses and industrial processes – where electrification isn’t suitable and where they’re not able to utilise hydrogen.
Analysis undertaken by NNFCC[4] demonstrates that a deployment pathway for a full switch from fossil LPG to bioLPG in the UK by 2040 is a feasible solution to support the Government in its ambition to move towards a low carbon economy. NNFCC found that there is significant potential for rapid scale-up of indigenous bioLPG production in the UK, as a co-product of sustainable aviation fuel production at new HVO plants or from establishing gasification and fischer tropsch synthesis facilities. Examples of feedstock’s which will be available to support Scottish production of bioLPG include used cooking oil, animal fat, vegetable oil, waste, plant dry matter, sugar and starch.[5]
Most bioLPG is currently produced as a co-product of the hydrogenated vegetable oil (HVO) process, where vegetable oils are treated with hydrogen to produce renewable ‘drop-in’ diesel or aviation fuel. The hydrogenation or hydrotreating of vegetable oils, fats or tallow and biomass-derived oils to create biofuels operates at a commercial scale across Europe. The process involves the conversion of fatty acid feedstocks into a drop-in diesel fuel by treating the oils with hydrogen at elevated temperatures.[6]
Hydogeneration of bio-oils can play a critical role in the short term, displacing fossil LPG. Using NESTE’s plant in Rotterdam as an example, BioLPG is captured as a by-product, from an HVO facility of this size could provide adequate quantities for meeting nearly 5% of the total LPG demand in the UK alone. NNFCC[7] found that A moderate sized HVO site in the UK could be developed utilising circa 540,000 tonnes of UCO and tallow in the UK – providing a drop-in solution for kerosene (to use in aviation) and LPG (to use in off-grid heat).
The study[8] goes on to demonstrate, that the risks of supplying raw materials can be reduced by utilizing existing capacity of oil refineries (hydrotreaters), as refiners have higher flexibility to change feedstocks or vary product specifications in response to market movements. Six oil refineries are located in the UK (see Appendix 1), with capacity to co-process large quantities of bio-oils with petroleum intermediates, without reaching any blending limits. This option is particularly attractive because oil refineries already produce fossil LPG and are connected to the LPG distribution network.
Consequently, the development of a BioLPG production lines inside oil refineries could be immediately effective solution. Opportunities for increasing the availability of sustainable feedstock include the acquisition of UCO exporters as well as the development of a pre-treatment unit to enable the co-processing of high acidic feedstock.
Appendix 1: Oil refineries in the UK[9]
September 2021