. . . On 16 March, SHV Energy received the first delivery of BioLPG (biopropane) from the Neste Biofuels production facility in Rotterdam. (Earlier post.) This represented the start of the first large scale distribution of BioLPG in the world.
Propane-rich off-gas is produced during Neste’s NExBTL renewable diesel process; the gas is usually recovered during the Stabilization and Recycle stages of the process. Usually, the propane off-gas from the Recycle section is used in the steam methane reformer (SMR) plant for the production of hydrogen and the propane off-gas from the Stabilization section is used in a natural gas boiler to raise process steam. The bio-propane production process increases the added value of this sidestream significantly.
BioLPG is Calor’s first renewable product offering that sees the company commit to reducing its carbon footprint and to become fully renewable by 2040. . . .
BioLPG can reduce carbon emissions by up to 88% over conventional LPG depending on the feedstock used, according to the UK government. Modelling by Calor shows that more than 180,000 rural off-gas grid homes could be heated using BioLPG by 2030 if additional domestic sources of supply are developed, helping the government to achieve its carbon emission targets.
The UK government’s Clean Growth Strategy outlines ambitious new policies to phase out the use of high carbon fossil fuels such as heating oil and coal typically used off the gas grid for domestic heat during the 2020s. . . .
The SHV Energy companies Primagaz and Calor will be responsible for marketing and distributing Neste BioLPG within their respective markets. The countries where customers will initially be able to buy BioLPG are: Great Britain, France, Denmark, Sweden, Germany, Ireland, Netherlands and Belgium.
BioLPG is a drop-in replacement for conventional LPG, so consumers can use exactly the same LPG appliances and vehicles that are widely available throughout Europe. However, the biggest environmental gain from the use of this very low carbon, clean fuel is when it replaces solid and liquid fuels such as coal and heating oil. For example, in Europe there are around 40 million households in rural areas beyond the gas grid. Millions of them currently rely on aging heating oil and central heating systems. If 1 million of them switched to using BioLPG, it would save 5 million tonnes of CO2 emissions—that’s the equivalent of taking 2.5 million cars off the road.