Solving the greenhouse gas crisis is as simple as ditching affordable, reliable energy sources and flipping the switch to less affordable, less reliable renewable electricity … right? This doesn’t sound like a well-thought-out solution, does it?
The Energy Trilemma
Oversimplified solutions to complex problems like energy can lead to disastrous side effects, especially when human welfare is on the line. That’s why it is critical for energy leaders and policymakers to consider all three dimensions of the Energy Trilemma when making energy decisions. These three equally important dimensions of the Energy Trilemma framework were established by the World Energy Council (worldenergy.org) and are defined as:
- Environmental Sustainability: Represents the transition of a country’s energy system toward mitigating and avoiding potential environmental harm and climate change impacts.
- Energy Security: Reflects a nation’s capacity to meet current and future energy demand reliably and withstand and bounce back swiftly from system shocks with minimal disruption to supplies.
- Energy Equity: Assesses a country’s ability to provide universal access to affordable, reasonably priced and abundant energy for domestic and commercial use.
Here’s the kicker: Our industry — the global liquid gas industry — offers a long-term, practical solution to address every aspect of the Energy Trilemma — sustainability (emissions and more), security (availability, resiliency) and equity (abundance, affordability) — head on and effectively.
The Role of Liquid Gas
The liquid gas industry inherently addresses the challenges of the Energy Trilemma. Liquid gas, including liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), propane, butane, dimethyl ether and increasing volumes of renewable liquid gas (rLG), provides essential energy to over 3 billion people around the world through a vast, agile and highly resilient supply chain. The global liquid gas industry plays a pivotal role in helping countries, communities, industries and businesses achieve their environmental, energy security and energy equity goals with “energy anywhere” and “energy for everyone.”
In developed markets today, consumers rely on liquid gas to fuel thousands of applications, from homes to industrial facilities, highways to oceans, and farms to commercial buildings. And the liquid gas industry is ready to help more of these sectors — particularly those in hard-to-reach locations or with hard-to-decarbonize applications — decarbonize further by replacing higher-carbon fuels with affordable, reliable liquid gas.
Around the world, there is a new level of attention being paid to liquid gas in sectors like off-grid applications, power generation, marine vessels, and larger vehicles and equipment where more (clean, affordable, reliable and practical) energy is needed.
The Role of Renewable Liquid Gas
The growing production of renewable liquid gas offers a practical pathway to a lower-carbon future, leveraging the existing LPG infrastructure. The members of the World Liquid Gas Association (WLGA) are working together to integrate more renewable fuels into the industry. In 2023, the global production capacity of rLG increased nearly 20%, per the Statistical Review of LPG published by WLGA and Argus Media, and through October 2024, rLG capacity is up another 36% year over year.
In parallel, WLGA’s Global Science Coalition brings together top researchers and academics from around the world to advance new production pathways for renewable, recycled and sustainable liquid gas. There are many promising developments across this front that promise to increase production further in the future.
New Markets
Meanwhile, while much of the world is pursuing efficiency and environmental sustainability targets, the International Energy Agency (IEA, iea.org) estimates that 2.3 billion people globally are living without access to reliable, clean, secure and equitable energy. These people — primarily women and children in developing countries — rely on unsustainable biomass and other hazardous fuels for cooking and heating. Access to liquid gas today would greatly improve their standard of living and help prevent an estimated 3.8 million premature deaths annually that are attributed to household air pollution. Yes, 3.8 million premature deaths!
Liquid gas is clearly a versatile solution that humanizes energy by offering clean, portable energy that nails all aspects of the Energy Trilemma. Because of the strength of our industry, in May 2024 at the Clean Cooking Summit hosted by the IEA and the UN Clean Cooking Alliance (cleancooking.org) and where 2.2 billion U.S. dollars was pledged to advance clean cooking projects in Africa, WLGA was selected to lead the LPG delegation to bring LPG solutions to more customers in Africa.
Solving the Energy Trilemma
Solving the Energy Trilemma demands smart, realistic, human-focused solutions. Liquid gas is the answer for today’s customers, with rLG production scaling up to meet future needs. Our industry is pioneering clean energy in emerging markets. I am proud to represent such a great solution for people and the planet — be it propane, LPG or liquid gas.
