Biopropane on the way for heating and transport?

Britain has been identified as one of five potential European countries for distribution of a new supply of ‘green’ gas – biopropane. SHV Energy, the parent company of Calor Gas, the UK’s largest LPG supplier, has announced a deal to supply biopropane to its European customers in a commercial deal with Finnish bio-diesel producer NESTÉ Oil.

The biopropane will be generated from a waste product of Nesté’s HVO biodiesel refining process at its Rotterdam plant. The agreement to supply some 160,000 tonnes of biopropane over a four-year period is the first of its kind anywhere in the world.

Nesté Oil's Rotterdam refinery's main product is renewable diesel which is produced from various bio-based raw materials and wastes. In early September Nesté Oil announced a €60mn investment to produce and store biopropane at its Rotterdam facility. Nesté Oil expects the new unit to be producing biopropane at the end of 2016.

If deployed in Great Britain biopropane could make a major contribution to Britain’s 2020 renewable energy targets in both transport and heating applications, says Calor.

Biopropane is chemically indistinct from propane and so can be used in any ratio with fossil fuel propane, right up to 100%. This will make it the first ‘drop-in’ renewable transport and heating fuel available in the British market, adds Calor.

Looking to Britain’s rural energy market, biopropane could have a major impact as it will provide existing liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) consumers with a means of converting to green energy without changing their existing boiler or other LPG equipment. The initial amount of biopropane available each year could heat 30,000 homes and significant further growth is expected as biopropane supply volumes and diversity of sources increase in the coming years.

However, the scale of deployment in Britain and applications chosen for this green gas will very much depend on the regulatory frameworks in place for heating and transport. Calor says it will be exploring these frameworks, along with commercial opportunities for distribution in both the heating and transport sectors.