Propane companies unite to support renewable propane production

BioLPG LLC and rLPG North America partnered to support further development of the renewably sourced, bioLPG-producing Cool LPG process invented by GTI Energy.

rLPG North America is a consortium of North American companies, formed in December 2022, composed of Blossman Gas, Blue Star Gas, Cavagna North America, NGL Supply Terminals and Paraco Gas.

The group seeks to achieve a decarbonization route at scale for LPG supply in North America. To that end, it is funding the continued research and development of GTI Energy’s Cool LPG process to commercialize this production pathway.

“Our consortium recognizes the fast-evolving and substantial need for affordable, green bioLPG at scale,” says Stuart Weidie, president of rLPG North America. “We LPG industry leaders want to provide an increasingly decarbonized, greener LPG supply to support global emissions reduction targets. Our Cool LPG collaboration with BioLPG LLC and GTI Energy demonstrates our commitment to achieve that objective.”

BioLPG LLC, based in Washington, D.C., and its United Nations-backed affiliate, Global LPG Partnership, have an exclusive global license from GTI Energy to bring to market the Cool LPG technology, which converts biogas into bioLPG, a 100 percent renewable liquid fuel for cooking, heating and transportation.

Preliminary research shows the Cool LPG process yields renewable liquid gas, including renewable propane, with a negative carbon intensity. It can accept a wide variety of feedstocks, such as dairy waste, animal waste, landfill waste and biomass, allowing for localized production and scalability.

These are key advantages in making renewable propane widely available to everyone in the LPG industry, says Weidie.

“It’s almost feedstock agnostic in terms of what it can accept, and we think that creates a lot of opportunities because the feedstock availability might be different in a landfill in Cobb County, Georgia, than animal waste in the Shenandoah Valley in Virginia,” he says.

rLPG North America and its partners aim to build a prototype plant within the next four to five years and to expand the number of facilities by 2030.

Plant locations will depend on feedstock availability, with an eye on geographic diversity and the ability to benefit the entire North American industry. The group expects the prototype will generate interest in building these plants from a variety of companies, adds Weidie.

rLPG North America joins European LPG companies Green LG Energy S.r.l. (Milan, Italy) and Friedrich Scharr KG (Stuttgart, Germany) as funders of Cool LPG technology research.

“Our collaboration with rLPG North America and the Europeans on Cool LPG development has the potential to make a meaningful contribution to the greener global energy mix needed by 2050,” says Kimball Chen, BioLPG LLC chairman and former president of the World LPG Association.

GTI Energy, a technology research organization based in the Chicago area, works with global partners to develop, scale and deploy energy solutions that it says improve lives, economies and the environment.

“The Cool LPG project exemplifies how, through collaboration with the right parties, the expertise of the GTI Energy team can deliver impactful innovations,” says Paula Gant, GTI president and CEO. “We are thrilled to take essential steps with rLPG North America and BioLPG LLC toward the promise of a low-cost, low-carbon energy future.”

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