Building Canada’s Energy Resilience with Renewable Propane

Canada is blessed with abundant natural resources to support our diverse energy needs, from urban centres to very remote and rural communities. As a cold, northern climate, Canadians need energy they can depend on, regardless of where they live. Unique regional needs and challenges underscore the importance of enabling a resilient energy future for Canada. 

While propane makes up only 2% of Canada’s energy demand, its versatility and portability allow propane to go where other fuels can’t and be used in wide-spread applications. It is a reliable lower-emission energy that provides essential heat and power to off-grid rural and remote communities. It can be used for heating, hot water, cooking, and power generation for homes, office buildings, farms and institutions such as hospitals and schools, and on the road to power school buses and service fleets including police, delivery and airport vehicles. 

Propane is critical backup energy for renewables and during emergencies when the grid fails. It is also an important building block for Canada’s growing petrochemical industry. It is transformed into high-value polypropylene, a low-density, stress-resistant thermoplastic. This versatile material is a key feedstock in producing essential plastic products globally, from dentures and cell phones to automobiles and even Canadian currency.

The ongoing evolution of the propane sector holds promise for an even cleaner energy future. The emergence of renewable propane will support energy transformations across the country and the world as we look to add more affordable, reliable and clean energy to our systems.

Already available on the market today in other countries, renewable propane allows homes and businesses to significantly reduce their carbon footprint without expensive retrofitting or changes to heating systems. It is compatible with all existing propane equipment, such as furnaces, water heaters, stoves, and grills, as well as vehicles that run on auto propane. This means that consumers can easily switch to renewable propane and enjoy the benefits of a lower-carbon energy source without incurring any additional equipment costs.

What is renewable propane?

Renewable propane can be made from a variety of renewable feedstocks. The most common form of renewable propane today is a byproduct of renewable diesel and sustainable aviation fuel made primarily from plant and vegetable oils, animal fats, or used cooking oil. 

Renewable propane shares an identical molecular structure with conventional propane derived from hydrocarbons, offering all the same benefits of reliability, portability, and power. It can be used alone or in blends with other renewable sources
such as DME (dimethyl ether) or low-carbon energy, including conventional propane. 

DME is already used extensively worldwide, mainly in industrial settings and is a colourless gas chemically similar to propane. RenewableDME is produced from renewable feedstocks, such as agricultural and municipal waste, renewable power and carbon dioxide, substantially reducing carbon emissions by up to 85%.

Why should Canada invest in renewable propane?

Price and efficiency matters: As renewable propane is a ‘drop-in’ fuel, propane infrastructure is already prepared for the future, no retrofitting or new equipment is required. 

Strategic advantages over other renewable fuel options and electrification: Storability, portability, and versatility for many end-use applications from heat to transport including the possibility of being a low GHG non-HFC refrigerant for refrigerators. It is also less expensive than other fuel options like renewable diesel and hydrogen.

Ideal pairing with electric heat pumps: Heat pumps need a primary heat source from a conventional fuel source – renewable propane is ideal due to its high efficiency and long-term storage capacity. It can also be used as a non-HFC refrigerant for heat pumps. 

Cost-effective energy solution for off-grid: About 200,000 people live in rural and remote regions across Canada. Hybrid energy systems could provide a cost-effective energy solution for off-grid and remote buildings, facilities and communities. 

Support local development and waste capture: Producing renewable propane is a smart way to use small, distant sources of biogas like those from farms and waste. It helps local growth, and it also collects and uses waste gases such as methane and carbon dioxide. 

Low-cost production: Renewable propane production costs per unit of energy are relatively low, making it a good option for many uses and providing a significant opportunity to reduce carbon emissions in Canada at a low cost, especially in remote and rural areas.

Pathways to Renewable Propane and renewableDME

The Canadian Propane Association (CPA) has developed a roadmap for scaling up the production of renewable propane in Canada. By doing so, the CPA and its members can achieve emissions reduction objectives while ensuring end-use resiliency.

Currently, renewable propane is being globally produced in biorefineries linked to petroleum refineries. This process involves the hydrotreatment of vegetable oils or animal fats to produce liquid biofuels. In this case, the technology is mature, but renewable propane is a by-product that is currently not marketed externally in Canada, as it is in other jurisdictions such as the U.S. 

The first-of-kind renewable propane production pathways that hold the most promise of being commercialized in the near-term are gasification technologies that use inexpensive materials like wood waste and using a catalyst to transform biogas wastes to renewable propane or renewableDME.

Canada can be a world leader in renewable propane given our expertise, existing infrastructure and natural resources. The technology exists today to produce at scale. Renewable propane offers a cleaner, low-carbon alternative that can reduce greenhouse gas emissions across various industries. As advancements in technology continue, renewable propane has the potential to play a key role in meeting global energy needs while contributing to an affordable, reliable energy supply. Embracing this innovative fuel source not only supports a greener future but also drives progress toward a more resilient energy landscape.