Backgrounder

Propane Facts

Propane Facts was established in 2008 by an alliance of Canadian propane industry leaders: Budget Propane and EDPRO Energy.
Propane Facts engages in cooperative efforts among industry, government and academia to establish and provide reliable and current information about propane.

Propane offers the lowest overall life-cycle fuel costs to high consumption commercial fleets, while reducing Greenhouse Gas emissions and improving air quality.
Fleets such as law enforcement vehicles, para-transit vehicles, school buses, couriers and urban delivery vehicles will benefit most from using propane.
In North America, virtually all propane vehicles currently are aftermarket conversions. The new generation conversion technology meets the operational requirements (reliability, performance, emissions, regulatory compliance) of today’s commercial fleet user.

Propane is readily accessible in Canada, with a well-established network of pipelines, storage, distribution points and retail locations.
Approximately 70%, or 8.6 billion litres, of Canada’s annual production of propane is exported because of the lack of domestic demand.
The price of propane in Ontario, over the past 12 years, has been consistently over 40% lower than gasoline.
In Canada, over 60,000 vehicles operate on propane. Propane installation, storage and handling codes (CSA B149 series) and regulations have been in place for more than 50 years.
Engine conversion components and systems are certified by approved organizations such as the Canadian Standards Association (CSA), Underwriters Laboratory (UL), and European Standards (EN67)

Today there are over 10 million propane-powered vehicles worldwide and the number is growing.

Australia

In Australia the government provides a $1,000 grant to consumers who purchase new factory fitted LPG vehicles and a $2,000 grant to consumers who convert their vehicles to LPG for private use.
As of February 2008 over 105,000 vehicles in Australia have been converted under this program since August, 2006 when the program was introduced.

Germany

Germany has had various incentive programs for alternative transportation fuels in place since 2003, as part of their environmental legislation.
Volkswagen and Fiat introduced OEM propane vehicles in Germany in 2006 and in spring 2007.
Typically, the premium for an OEM LPG vehicle in Germany ranges from 2,000 to 2,500 euros.

India

Alternative fuels are just one of the many measures initiated by the Government of India to reduce vehicular pollution.
There are over 1.0 million vehicles operating on propane in India however only about 350,000 have been retrofitted in compliance or produced by OEM’s.
The vehicle manufacturers in India are now beginning to produce propane-powered vehicles with major companies such as Maruti and Bajaj producing factory equipped propane vehicles.

New Zealand

New Zealand’s population of 4.1 million has one of the highest car ownership rates in the world, with approximately 2.6 million passenger vehicles.
By the late 1980’s New Zealand had over 50,000 LPG vehicles in use. At one time, LPG as a transportation fuel accounted for 90% of all LPG used in New Zealand.
The current propane fleet is primarily high consumption vehicles such as taxicabs, police vehicles and commercial vehicles that can recoup the cost of conversion with approximately 40% cost savings in relation to gasoline.