Liquid Petroleum Gas

Liquid Petroleum Gas, or LPG is the generic name for commercial butane and commercial propane. Although it is a gas at atmospheric pressure, it can be easily condensed to a liquid, reducing the volume up to 250 times. This makes LPG easier to transport.

LPG can be used to power a normal car engine, although a few modifications need to be made first. It's sold at petrol stations as Autogas.

The benefits of LPG are easy to understand. According to Shell, LPG cars...

• produce 90% fewer particulate emissions than diesel cars
• produce 90% less NOx than diesel cars
• produce 75% less CO than petrol cars
• have 87% less Ozone forming potential than petrol
• run up to 50% quieter than diesel cars

Not only that, but LPG is much cheaper than petrol or diesel. According to BP, £10 spent on Autogas will take you 139 miles as compared to 105 miles for diesel and just 89 miles for petrol.

To take advantage of LPG, you will need to get your car converted. Boost LPG provides the information you need to get started and the people who run Boost LPG have a list of approved converters.

Grants for conversion were recently available through TransportEnergy but have now been halted while the schemes are updated to be more "technology neutral". Keep an eye on their site. Conversion costs around £1600 but Powershift grants could be claimed for up to 70% of the cost - a massive saving! Lets hope that the European Commission and the Department for Transport get this sorted as soon as possible.

caldini