With concerns of climate change higher than ever, there comes an equally high amount of misinformation on greenhouse gases and climate change. Propane is a fuel used for many purposes, but is it a greenhouse gas as well? What is the impact of propane on the climate? In this article, we will cover what makes a greenhouse gas, as well as if propane is one or not. We will also discuss propanes impact on climate change.
What Is A Greenhouse Gas?
A greenhouse gas is essentially a gas that traps heat. These gases are called greenhouse gases because they trap heat, just like in a greenhouse. The science is a bit complicated, but not all gasses are capable of trapping heat.
For example, oxygen is does not trap heat, but carbon dioxide does, making it a greenhouse gas.
Each greenhouse gas has a different ability to trap heat. Some are very good at trapping heat for long periods, while others aren’t. This makes it tricky to figure out the total impact of each greenhouse gas.
The Global Warming Potentials (GWP) of a gas is a value assigned to each greenhouse gas for this exact reason and indicates how good the gas is at trapping heat compared to carbon dioxide. For example, nitrous oxide has a GWP of 265, which means it is 265 better at trapping heat than an equal amount of carbon dioxide.
What Is Propane?
Propane is a fuel that comes in liquid form. Propane is created during natural gas processing and crude oil refining but does not exist naturally.
Propane can be created from renewable resources, although usually not in reliable or high quantities.
Propane has many different uses. According to the DOE, its main uses include home heating systems, water heating, cooking, clothes drying, home backup power generators, and powering farm and industrial equipment.
You may have a propane tank at your home being used for a BBQ or to power an outdoor patio heater.
When propane is used, it must be combusted. When fuels are combusted, they can create several different kinds of emissions, including carbon emissions, particulate matter, and sulfur dioxide to name a few.
What Are Carbon Emissions?
Carbon emissions are carbon-based molecules released into the atmosphere after activities such as combusting fuel or gas leaks. There are different kinds of carbon emissions such as methane and carbon dioxide.
There are also other types of non-carbon emissions, such as particulate matter, and sulfur dioxide. Both types of emissions could also be greenhouse gases.
According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, propane emits about 12.68 pounds of carbon dioxide per gallon. Compared to diesel, which emits 22.45 pounds of carbon dioxide per gallon, propane emits about 50% fewer carbon emissions.
Many view propane as a green fuel since it produces fewer emissions. However, it also has a lower carbon content so its environmental impact isn’t significantly better than diesel.
Accounting for this fact, propane emits about 138.63 pounds of carbon dioxide per million BTUs of fuel, whereas diesel emits 163.45. This is only a 15% reduction in carbon emissions. Propane is one of the cleanest burning fossil fuels, but it is not a clean energy source.
Is Propane a Greenhouse Gas?
Propane is not a greenhouse gas itself because it does not trap heat. Propane is a type of liquified petroleum gas or fuel that must be combusted to be used. The combustion of propane does create emissions however, some of which are greenhouse gases.
It doesn’t matter if propane comes from renewable sources or not. Either way propane is not considered a greenhouse gas.
Similarly, diesel fuel is also not a greenhouse gas because it’s a fuel, not a gas that traps heat. Diesel fuel also releases greenhouse gasses when combusted.
Does propane cause climate change?
Propane does contribute to climate change because it needs to be combusted to be used and greenhouse gasses are produced as a byproduct.
Even though propane produces fewer greenhouse gases than other fuels and it is not a greenhouse gas itself, its use contributes to climate change.