The Golden Fuel
Liquefied petroleum gas, known as LPG, is slowly becoming the rarest thing on earth. Like fossil fuels, it is a non-renewable source of energy. As its production rate is increasing, its usage is also leveling up. Many big cities with no limits are wasting it on a large scale. As a result, the shortage of LPG gas is becoming an international concern.
LPG, also known as LP gas, was first developed in 1912 when Dr. Walter Snelling, an American scientist, realized that natural gases could be changed into liquids and stored under moderate pressure. From 1912 to 1920, the uses were developed in different sectors. The first LPG cook stove was made in 1912, and the first LPG-fueled car was developed in 1913. In 1920, the world started using LPG as an everyday household item. However, the production was then limited as well as its uses.
The LPG industry began sometime shortly before World War 1. Before that, the industry mainly depended on natural gas. A problem in the natural gas distribution process popped up at that time. To solve this problem, the facilities started building facilities to cool and compress natural gas and separate the gases that could be turned into liquids. LPG was sold commercially by 1920. However, then, the uses were limited. It is extracted from crude oil and natural gas.
The main composition of LPG is hydrocarbons containing three or four carbon atoms. The normal components of LPG are propane (C3H8) and butane (C4H10). Small concentrations of other hydrocarbons may also be present. All these concentrations are usually mixed in gaseous form, but with moderate pressure and sufficiently reduced temperature, this mixed-up gas can be liquefied. Then, it can be easily condensed, packaged, stored, and utilized.
In 1920, the LPG use facilities were almost 5–10%, but as it is profitable and can produce more energy than coil fuels, many companies started using it as a must. Now globally, this LPG using facilities is more than 90%. In Bangladesh, over 98% of productive industries use a large amount of LPG.
LPG can also control weeds on farms without fearing the soil, the environment, or groundwater pollution. It is also used to turn greenhouses into carbon fertilizers since LPG increases the leaf mass of plants. We have significantly reduced diesel pollution by converting diesel engines to LPG.
In India, LPG is the primary cooking fuel option in most urban and rural places across all the quintiles. In Australia, LPG is used in automotive applications in cars (in all taxis) and special applications close to workers in confined or enclosed spaces, such as forklift trucks, concrete mixers, and similar plants. In Mexico, the combined population surpasses 20 million people using an estimated 2.8 million vehicles powered by gasoline, diesel, or gas—approximately 1.1% of the vehicles are powered by LPG as fuel. LPG has a very prominent position in Latin America. Owing to its daily use among households, it accounts for a relatively small portion of the global LPG market, representing 27 million metric tons per year (9% of global demand) out of a total market of over 300 million metric tons. Unlike in other large developed markets, Latin America's demand is driven by residential and commercial customers, which consume about 80% of the region's LPG.
By comparison, global residential and commercial demand accounts for 50% of global LPG demand, while chemical accounts for 24%. This relative split is similar in China, where residential and commercial represent 49% of the market, and chemicals are 30%. In the United States, residential and commercial make up an even smaller portion of the market, at 29% of total demand.
Despite all the progress, LPG remains a matter of great sensitivity. It must be treated very carefully. However, accidents happen in Bangladesh due to a lack of awareness and missed supervision for at least one more year. This accident not only costs the loss of LPG but also the loss of many lives every year. In Bangladesh, Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) was introduced as a cooking fuel in September 1978 with the production of about 16,000 tons of the gas by Eastern Refinery Ltd. Consumption of LPG has increased from 50,000 tons in 2008. The quantity of LPG consumed in the country was 1.02 million tons in 2020 and is expected to rise to 2 million tons in 2030. Till now, 85 percent of LPG is consumed for domestic use. The total number of households using LPG is about 3.8 million. If you see the historical trend of LPG consumption from 2004 to 2015, you will find how much the scale of LPG usage is increasing yearly.
However, the per capita consumption of LPG is the lowest among the countries in the Asia-Pacific region. If the increasing rate continues like this, soon, there will be no natural gas source left to create LPG. As per calculation, Bangladesh has already used natural gas for the next 500 years in just five years. So this problem will be a massive concern for the upcoming generation of our country. We do not have any alternative to LPG, so we will face considerable problems in the future. The problems will hamper our private life and our country's industrial life too. Not only Bangladesh but many other countries are also now facing the same problem.
As a developing country, LPG is a must. Therefore, Bangladesh should also start properly utilizing its natural gas like every developed country. Its overuse must be stopped, and the misuse must end. It is late, but not too late to step forward. We need to try to come up with a solution. The best way is to create an alternative way of LPG so we can depend less on natural resources and keep on producing. Not only we, but every country is also trying to devise a solution to reduce our dependence on nature. All the research facilities are investing almost 11.2 billion dollars annually in this research. LPG gas is a vital element of everyday life, so we must make limited use of it, or soon it will be as rare as gold.
