Propane Fuel Analysis

Thank you for your comments, encouragement, and other input. Below is one set of information provided in response to last week's note Propane Green Representative . Please continue to provide your input.

"Not so green.

Propane is C3H8 which, when burnt, yields 3 CO2 and 4 H2O for a ratio of
75%.

It's better by a smidgen that octane, C8H18 yielding 8 CO2 and 9 H2O for
89%.

But it's far worse than methane CH4 yielding 1 CO2 to 2 H2O for only
33%!

(And, of course, pure hydrogen H2 yielding 0 CO2 and 1 H2O for
0%!!)

(Or wind for 0% as well.)"

Yes, methane has a much smaller carbon footprint than propane, the carbon footpint of propane is only marginally smaller than octane (natural gasoline), and hydrogen has no carbon footprint. The Pickens proposal for propane (and methane) is that they can replace gasoline in piston engines without the need for emissions controls for carbon-monoxide, other problem gases (other than carbon-dioxide), and particulates (little pieces of solid carbon and carbon compounds). In fact, conventional automobiles running on propane or methane could be built much simpler for lower cost than gasoline engines. Fleets running on propane or methane have much longer lives since the engines run much cleaner. The major drawback to methane is that not all regions of the USA have gas pipelines, which is why propane was presented, since it is easier to liquefy for transportation than methane.

The momentum of existing infrastructure, education, and interests have kept propane and/or methane from being adopted. For the environment, a relatively quick, inexpensive, and well understood approach is to move away from gasoline and diesel to methane and propane with existing technologies. Additionally, methane is renewable, continuously being generated by various natural processes, can be generated from coal, oil shale, existing petroleum reservoirs, and any organic material (including plastic).

Furthermore, methane tranportation via pipeline is practically 100% efficient whereas the electric grid is 33% efficient at best. Therefore, generating methane with alternative energy sources makes more sense than generating electricity or if electricty is integral to the alternative then methane should be generated for efficient transport then utilized at the location where the energy is applied. This process will be carbon neutral, efficient, and therefore lower cost.