UK Renewable Liquid Gas Modelling: Supply and heating demand pathways for bioLPG and rDME

Liquid Gas UK is to proud to launch a new joint report with Frazer Nash Consultancy and Bioeconomy Consultants NNFCC, ‘UK Renewable Liquid Gas Modelling: Supply and heating demand pathways for bioLPG and rDME’.

In 2019, the LPG sector announced its commitment to reach 100% renewable by 2040, and this new report demonstrates that industry has a credible pathway to meeting that target. Off-grid homes and businesses should be given a choice of how to decarbonise their homes, and #renewableliquidgases can provide a cost-effective and convenient solution for many properties that are either hard to treat or hard to heat

Within the UK, there are as many as 4,000,000 off-grid homes both in urban and rural areas without connection to the national gas network.  Of these homes, up to 1.5 million currently use heating oil (kerosene) for heating and cooking, while up to 200,000 homes use LPG as well as many businesses. Many of these properties will not be able to benefit from heat-pump technologies, meaning alternative need to be explored.

The UK Government have committed to Net Zero by 2050, which will require reductions in greenhouse gas emissions across all sections. In 2021, domestic heating accounted for as much as 14% of UK’s emissions and is this thus one of the key areas requiring new, alternative, low-carbon and renewable technologies and fuel sources.

BioLPG is chemically identical to LPG, but is derived through renewable, lower carbon feedstocks (eg. woody waste, wet waste, used cooking oils). rDME (renewable dimethyl-ether) is chemically similar to propane and butane, and like LPG can be stored and transported as a liquid.

Substituting bioLPG or rDME as a replacement for LPG both in standalone and hybrid systems, and some heating oil homes could reduce carbon emissions by up to 90%, with no changes to other emission factors and without the need for expensive boiler replacements or deep retrofit while offering substantial air quality improvements compared to heating oil and woody biomass.

 To read the report and find out more about bioLPG and rDME click here.