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Balancing the Energy Equation

Companies large and small are under increasing pressure to demonstrate sustainability, but sustainability means more than renewable energy; it means self-sustaining, big picture strategies that will grow organically. This panoramic approach is based on a balanced energy equation – of technology, economics and environmental sustainability – that will naturally yield greater national security, a reinforced domestic economy, maximization of resources and lasting environmental benefits.

Some energy alternatives with great promise aren’t immediately actionable because they are not yet able to balance this value equation. Autogas is a viable solution now because it has already balanced these crucial elements.

Technology

The first element of the value equation is sustainable technology. Proven and accessible technology will grow organically, having greater impact than technologies which stagnate beyond incentivized programs.

Autogas has proven, shovel-ready technology that can contribute to a diverse and sustainable U.S. energy portfolio and help to balance the energy equation. With over 14.6 million vehicles worldwide running on propane autogas. It is the third most widely used vehicle fuel in the world behind conventional gasoline and diesel.

Balance your greens

Sustainable practices can’t be limited to environmental factors. The economics behind a program have to be sustainable too, beyond government incentives. This includes elements such as affordability and convenience.

The cost efficiency of autogas infrastructure and the cost savings realized by fleets who operate vehicles on autogas make make it a sustainable alternative fuel solution. Often with other alternative fuels, groups who receive funds don’t move their program forward beyond grant implementation because the technology itself is cost prohibitive.

Another key facet to the sustainable economics of autogas is represented in the ratio of cost for implementation versus gallons of gasoline and harmful emissions displaced. For every dollar put toward propane conversions, we substantially reduce our dependence on foreign oil as well as harmful emissions.

One Clean Cities Coalition partnered with Alliance AutoGas to secure $8.6M from the DOE’s ARRA grant to convert 1,200 cars for an estimated displacement of 15,772,100 gallons of gasoline and more than 16,000 tons of airborne pollutants.

The reality is, no organization or government wants to underwrite a grant forever; they want to underwrite something sustainable – an initiative that might not get jumpstarted on its own – that with a nudge, will pick up and carry forward. Successful grant awards go to those who show the most promise and autogas implementation is less expensive and a more viable solution for post-grant expansion that many alternative fuels.

Environmentally Friendly

The third and final piece to our value equation is environmental sustainability. True sustainable transportation requires that our current transportation systems be strengthened or replaced by more fuel-efficient and environmentally friendly alternatives.

Transport is one of the major global consumers of energy, representing 20-25% of aggregate energy consumption and CO2 emissions. Autogas is a clean-burning fuel with significantly lower well-to-wheel CO2 emissions than gasoline- or diesel-powered vehicles.

Autogas powered vehicles produce lower emissions than gasoline vehicles, charting the following reductions:

A note on successful grant projects:

Of the $300,000,000 million awarded for alternative fuel projects as part of the ARRA, many groups who made requests based on a diverse range of alternative fuels didn’t see as much success, because the value equation didn’t quite line up.

One group which made a request based on a variety of different fuel platforms requested $15 million for an overall program that would only displace 3 million gallons of gasoline. If you chart those fuels which were awarded large sums, propane comes out at the top.

While Virginia Clean Cities, together with Alliance AutoGas, displaced gasoline at a ratio 2 gallons displaced for every $1.00 spent, another group using various alternative fuels estimated displacement at only .25 gallons of gasoline displaced for every $1.00 spent.