Liquefied Petroleum Gas: dual fuel August 2000 Introduction Some problems LPG as an automotive fuel Conclusion The TERI opinion Introduction LPG (liquefied petroleum gas) is a propane-butane mixture that is primarily used as a domestic fuel for cooking. Domestic LPG is mostly marketed by public sector oil companies in the urban areas. However, it has also found usage in the commercial and industrial sectors. It is used in industries such as glass, ceramic, and others, where heat control and low sulphur are prerequisites in the fuel used. Nowadays, LPG is also a current favourite with policy makers, especially when it comes to advocating it as an alternative fuel. LPG is known to be a clean, cost-effective and pollution-less fuel, and for these reasons, the centre gave a thrust to its use as a cooking fuel decades back. Recently engineers have proved its use as an automobile fuel. Worldwide, governments are encouraging the use of LPG as an alternative fuel in recognition of the significant benefits it offers. LPG has been ranked number one as an alternative transport fuel in the US Energy Policy Act of 1992. Dr B S Murthy, a retired mechanical engineering professor (Indian Institute of Technology, Chennai) and an expert in this field, opines that LPG is an excellent alternative having fuel efficiency, low emission and low cost. Dr Murthy is, however, against adaptation of the technology by small manufacturers until the government stipulates the quality norms. Initially he recommends the use of such conversion to LPG in four wheelers and three wheelers. Once the technology matures and the government stipulates the quality standard norms for the equipment, connectors and its use, refrofitters may be allowed to manufacture them. (The Hindu, 26 August 1999). But what cannot be denied is that as a domestic fuel, LPG enjoys the highest degree of popularity. Reasons cited for the preference of LPG include convenience, easy ignition, cleanliness, higher efficiency, and easy storage. As on 1 January 1999, there were 21 lakh LPG consumers in Delhi alone. The public sector companies alone will be releasing 7 million new LPG connections for domestic use in the country during current year. The government has planned to liquidate the waiting list for LPG all over the country by 2001/2002. Presently, more than 41 million households are using LPG as cooking fuel in India (The Times of India, 4 November 1999). Some problems According to a news report in The Pioneer (5 November 2000), there were at least 11 million applicants (as on 1 January 2000) figuring in the waiting list for LPG connections. The government has promised that the number would be substantially reduced by the end of next year. How it proposes to do so, and when it can actually accomplish this objective is yet to be seen. The government had also launched a scheme that would help women of the rural areas. But even that was beset by teething problems. Lack of enough resources, absence of coordination among different agencies involved, misuse of gas connections by the beneficiaries and inadequate distribution network in rural areas are only some of the problems affecting the scheme to supply 10 lakh cooking gas connections to rural women, launched eight months ago. The main objective behind this was to relieve them of the drudgery of cooking, prevent pollution through smoke and gradual deforestation due to felling of trees for firewood. While launching the programme before the general elections, the government announced that all the 10-lakh connections would be issued within three months but only 4.39 lakh families have been provided with the facility so far. Now, a fresh deadline of 30 March is set for releasing the remaining connections. Meeting this deadline too seems unlikely as the state-level OCC (Oil Co-ordination Committee), which allocates gas quota, has decided to sanction only about 2 lakh connections for the scheme by the second week of this month. But what is worrying the government more is that the gas connections are ultimately passing into the hands of ineligible persons in rural as well as urban areas (The Indian Express, 9 February 2000). The government was also trying to come up with innovative solutions for such, and other related problems. It promised a gift of the millennium for Delhi kitchens. Come June and anyone cooking in Delhi would get a cooking gas supply direct to his/her kitchen. To cover all of Delhi, 7500 km of pipe is needed. It will take around a day to lay 10 km of PVC pipe. The process had been divided into three phases, and was expected to start in early December, last year, with tenders being issued to contractors for laying down the pipes. The government promises to end the first phase, in which 10 000 households will get cooking gas and 250 km of pipe will be laid by March. There are two big hurdles the plan has to overcome. The first is the digging and the attendant problems it brings. However, Mr Rajeev Sharma, Managing Director, Indraprastha Gas Ltd. says, ‘We are not going to dig up all the Capital. We will bore under all the major roads’. From each colony, ductile PVC pipes would be laid to the doorstep of houses. Inside the premises, a hole would be drilled in the kitchen wall and steel pipes would reach the cooking gas appliances. The appliances would be metered and billed by an online meter set outside the house. The second problem is that Delhi gets less natural gas than it needs. 'We get 0.33 million standard cubic metres daily. Delhi needs much more,’ says Mr. Sharma. 'But that is possible only when we show the demand by laying the infrastructure first’ (The Indian Express, 22 November 1999). However, currently, cooking gas for households through pipelines is being supplied in very limited areas in Delhi. However, there is always a flip side to the coin. The work on the Jamnagar/Kandla-Loni LPG pipeline is expected to be completed ahead of schedule. The overall progress of the commissioning of the 1260-km pipeline, said to be the world's longest of its kind, is extremely encouraging if reports of the same are to believed. The work on the project, being carried out by GAIL (Gas Authority of India Ltd) had commenced in October 1999 and is scheduled to be completed in February 2001. Extra care has been accorded in handling the top-soil preservation, water channel protection and restoration of roads and canals whenever required. Once commissioned the pipeline will help move 1.7 million tonnes a year of LPG which is equivalent to 5 lakh cylinders per day in the first phase and 2.5 million tonnes in the second phase. LPG as an automotive fuel Automotive LPG is a clean-burning, high octane, abundant, environmentally friendly transportation fuel with proven success. Automotive LPG with high octane means one does not have to sacrifice power. Besides, its clean burning characteristics support environmental initiatives. It can be readily liquefied by either reducing the temperature or by applying moderate pressure. Automotive LPG is a suitable fuel for vehicles that have to comply with stringent emission requirements. The emissions of carbon monoxide, oxides of nitrogen oxide, unburnt hydrocarbons and particles are very limited. Of all the fossil fuel options for automotive use in total fuel cycle emission analysis, automotive LPG produces the lowest amount of greenhouse gases. LPG has been powering road vehicles for more than 50 years in Europe. There are around 15 lakh LPG-powered vehicles in Italy and Holland alone and over 40 lakh worldwide. In India, in cities like Delhi and Goa, some people have started using LPG as an auto fuel. The Union government's decision to allow LPG as auto fuel has come as a big relief to the Delhi government, as it had been considering LPG as an alternative due to shortage of CNG (compressed natural gas). The Hon’ble Chief minister Ms Sheila Dikshit stated that the government was now actively considering converting DTC (Delhi Transport Corporation) buses to LPG, as both the kits and fuel were available in sufficient quantity. Nearly 1750 DTC buses and 2500 contract carriages have been phased out following a Supreme Court order. New buses would be required to run on CNG. So far the DTC has managed to procure only 28 buses since the suppliers could not meet the demand (The Times of India, 8 April 2000). Let us look at another situation. The high price and poor availability of CNG (compressed natural gas), as compared to LPG, has attracted several autorickshaw drivers to opt for the latter, albeit illegally. This happened especially when they were left jobless following implementation of the Supreme Court ruling of not allowing autorickshaws registered before 1990 to ply on Delhi roads, unless they are run on 'clean fuel'. The drivers claim that opting for CNG-run vehicles would mean huge financial losses. The Union Cabinet also endorsed this view recently when it announced that LPG would be allowed to be used as a fuel for vehicles. But, autorickshaw drivers are in a quandary as the centre did not specify norms for the LPG conversion kit. Hence, there is no legal sanctity to LPG-driven vehicles. The autorickshaw drivers, however, contend that even the Supreme Court has given them the option of choosing between LPG and CNG. At present, the LPG conversion kit costs between Rs 4000 and Rs 10 000, whereas the same for CNG is between Rs 30 000 and Rs 50 000. That is not the only monetary benefit. Even after the recent increase in LPG prices, the cost of fuel per kilometre would be far lower than the cost of CNG (The Statesman, 26 April 2000). Conclusion Not too long ago there was a proposed entry of the US energy major, Dynergy Inc. into the distribution of LPG (cooking gas). It is estimated that the sector, which is currently being served by public sector undertakings, may soon be thrown open to the private sector. The project involves supplying cooking gas to areas hitherto not served by these enterprises, especially in rural and semi-urban areas. The cost of the entire project has been estimated at Rs 1000 crore. States for which the distribution would commence are Gujarat, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, and Rajasthan. According to preliminary estimates, the price of a cylinder under this project would cost Rs 250. The project will involve import of LPG through a single-buoy moor at Okha in Gujarat. The imported gas will then be transferred to the terminal. From here, the gas will be evacuated to bottling plants through dedicated tankers on the railway network. The joint venture plans to buy 450 tankers for the purpose (The Observer of Business and Politics, 16 May). ที่มา : http://static.teriin.org/energy/lpg.htm
