Propane is considered an alternative fuel by federal government definitions, but how much do you really know about it? Also known as liquefied petroleum gas, or LP, propane is a high-octane fuel, popular with fleet vehicles.
Polish up your knowledge of propane by seeing if you can identify fact from fiction in the statements below:
Propane does not help reduce foreign energy use since most of it is not produced domestically. False. Increasing propane use in vehicles would be yet another way to diversify the country's transportation fuels. Nearly all the propane produced is produced right here in the U.S., then distributed throughout an existing infrastructure.
Propane as a transportation fuel is still in its early forms of development. False. On the contrary, though it has not reached he same level of popularity here in he U.S., propane is actually one of the most common engine fuels on a global basis. And unlike hydrogen fuel cells or other technologies, propane vehicle technology is well-established. In addition, propane fueling stations are widely available.
Propane is not as efficient or safe as other transportation fuels. False. Of all alternative fuels, propane has one of the highest energy densities of all. Because of this,propane vehicles go farther on a tank of fuel than some other alternative fuel vehicles. And contrary to growing perceptions, hydrogen is not a dangerous alternative fuel type. In fact, propane tanks are 20 times more puncture resistant than conventional gasoline storage tanks. In addition, propane has the lowest flammability range of all alternative fuels.
Some propane vehicles are less environmentally friendly than others. True. While both have advantages over many other types of vehicles, manufactured propane vehicles are usually cleaner-burning than vehicles that have gone through conversions because the systems can be optimized. Propane has cleaner combustion properties, on average, than other fuels. In addition, propane engines can be changed to choose between pollutants, so that the engine is paritcularly useful in achieving pollution-reduction targets. Depending on whether you utilize a rich or low calibration, you will change the emissions make up.
Propane fueling stations are relatively easy to find.True. There are approximately 4,175 propane (also known as liquefied petroleum gas or LPG) fueling stations dotted across the nation. The U.S. Department of Energy maintains a map of these and other alternative fueling stations. Propane has the largest fueling infrastructure of any alternative fuel.
Propane has lacked acceptance in the U.S. as a transportation fuel. False. Although not used frequently by private vehicles, propane remains a popular and safe alternative transporation fuel that is utilized by both municipal and business fleets across the coutnry. In fact, more than 80,000 bus, taxi and delivery services, as well as other fleets, relay on propane for fuel. As demand for propane vehicles has grown, automakers are producing more and more vehicles equipped with propane-powere engines are coming down the line.
Propane has many other uses in the U.S. beyond fleet transportation. True. In addition to it use as a fuel in homes and for transportation, more than one million commercial establishments, from hotels to laundromats, make use of propane in many of the same ways a homeowner would: heating, cooling, water heating, refrigeration, cooking, drying clothes, and other applications. In addition, there are an estimated 350,000 industrial sites making use of propane for everything from soldering to heat treating to brazing. Propane is even used in the manufacture of some plastics.
