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Renewable propane

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furpod View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Quote furpod Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Topic: Renewable propane
    Posted: 24 Oct 2022 at 3:55pm
One thing to note.. in a lot of the world, propane does the same things it does for RPoders, but for whole homes.. so the scale may be better than "we" think.
Our home doesn't use propane or CNG, but nearly every other one on this road does. We have a geothermal heat pump, but our main heat is from a good old fashioned wood stove.


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Post Options Post Options   Quote offgrid Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 21 Oct 2022 at 12:03pm
It's a biofuel.  Like biodiesel, its made from biological sources, veggie oil, etc. The difference is that it's chemically identical to fossil propane, so it's compatible with any device that burns fossil propane, unlike biodiesel. So that's good. 

But the article from PERC is highly misleading. It shows the carbon intensity of renewable propane as much better than grid electricity. But look at the units (gCO2/MJ). They are equating megajoules of energy contained in fuels to megajoules of electricity in wires. That's very misleading because if what you want is electricity then you have to run the fuel (propane  gasoline, diesel, coal, whatever)  through an engine of some kind to produce the electricity, and that process is very inefficient. Also, the electricity grid is rapidly decarbonizing via massive increases in cheap  solar and wind capacity, so it's carbon intensity is dropping quickly. PERC is a propane industry lobbying group so that kind of misdirection is to be expected. It's not wrong, just not on point. Bottom line is that if you want to lower atmospheruc CO2 and can use electricity, do it, and invest in solar and wind to produce it. That's the quickest path to low carbon. Yeah I know nukes work and are zero carbon but no one wants one in their backyard. 

That being said, there are energy requirements that can't currently be met practically by electricity. Those include aviation, long haul trucking, and long haul rpod towing. For those application, biofuels like SAF (sustainable aviation fuel), biodiesel, etc are a great intermediate step until the day comes when batteries are up to the challenge, if they ever are. 

I'm not quite seeing where renewable propane fits into that though as it's not currently used as a vehicle fuel, and it's much better for home heating and cooking just to convert to electric. For that matter, RV fridges are in process of  transition  to electric too. I guess maybe for RV off grid cooking, heating  and water heating renewable propane might make sense. It's an easy change for the consumer. Overall though that's  not going to move the atmospheric carbon needle much one way or the other. 
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Post Options Post Options   Quote lostagain Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 20 Oct 2022 at 7:48pm
Thanks.  I found it:  https://propane.com/environment/podcast/3-15-reducing-carbon-intensity-with-renewable-propane/

Very interesting if it can withstand the normal scientific peer review and can be scaled up for mass production at an economical cost.  
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Post Options Post Options   Quote David and Danette Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 20 Oct 2022 at 7:02pm
Best I can do is Google  " 3.15- Reducing Carbon Intensity " I am not that smart with computers sorry. Maybe someone else can create a link
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Post Options Post Options   Quote lostagain Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 20 Oct 2022 at 6:37pm
Do you think you could provide a link to the article you read?  Much thanks.
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Post Options Post Options   Quote David and Danette Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 20 Oct 2022 at 5:36pm
   Renewable propane is something new I just read about and sounds like something positive. From what I read it is a positive step for a fuel source that has a low carbon output. Sounds like good news for campers since campers use propane for refrigeration, heat and cooking. Hope it soon is available nationwide.
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