Oil2LPG – it's a win, win situation

It was reported recently that British industry currently wastes more than £3 billion a year by using outdated energy sources. The report also found that using these energy sources needlessly pumps an extra 13 million tonnes of CO2 into the air.

The outdated energy source in question is oil and therefore the businesses that burn it are generally off grid. There are tens of thousands of off grid oil users at present in the UK. Every one of them can take a bite of the potential £3bn savings and every one can have a positive impact on the amount of CO2 being pumped into the atmosphere.

So, if you're managing or advising on energy purchasing for off grid plants, read on. This article will save you money and reduce your carbon footprint. Guaranteed.

The main problems with oil are well known; it's expensive to buy, it's an inefficient (and therefore expensive) fuel to burn, it's dirty and it's a huge environmental pollutant.

Add to that the maintenance costs of an oil boiler, the potential for oil theft and the pollution risks (and fines) associated with oil leaks and spillages, and it's easy to see why it's time to switch away from oil.

Although renewables are increasingly being talked about as a potential alternative, they're some way off from providing a viable solution for your complete supply. Renewables are also currently more expensive than oil so, although you would tick the environmental box for a proportion of your supply, you wouldn't be reducing your costs.

The only real alternative for off grid businesses to achieve this is LPG. It is cheaper than oil, greener, cleaner burning and fulfils all the same criteria that natural gas fulfils for on grid businesses. You wouldn't burn oil if you were on the grid, so why use it off grid when there is a gas alternative?

Despite the current fall in oil prices, propane (LPG) pricing has proved historically to be consistently lower per litre than oil, regardless of whether it's being compared to kerosene, gas oil or heavy fuel oil (HFO). This is still the case, especially when factoring in the price per kiloWatt hour of energy produced.

The expectation is that in the medium and long term the price differential between oil and LPG will increase so the savings to be made by switching will continue to grow. The exact amount saved will depend on usage, and on the current grade of oil used. However, experts predict LPG could reduce bills by between 20-40%.

With British industry currently spending almost £12bn a year on its heating, lighting and manufacturing processes, experts suggest that the savings available by switching to LPG are around £3.2bn.

These savings come in two parts. £2.6bn could be saved on fuel alone, representing a reduction of 22%. Then, when you factor in replacing the oil burning equipment with the much more fuel efficient LPG burners, the saving rises to over £3.2bn, giving a total saving in this example of around 27%.

The report bases its figures on average pricing across all grades, but savings of up to 40% are possible depending on the current oil source, usage and spend.

For many, the financial savings of LPG will be the most important factor, but the industry is seeing more and more companies converting to LPG for green reasons too.

Consumers are increasingly demanding it from industry and, with government levies on carbon emissions, LPG could bring significant benefits.

Comparing the fuels alone, LPG reduces CO2 emissions by 14% compared to kerosene, by 29% compared to gas oil and by 31% when compared to HFO. However, when combined with the more efficient LPG burners, LPG offers carbon dioxide reductions of 30-50%, helping to take a huge chunk out of corporate carbon footprints.

LPG from Flogas not only offers significant reduced CO2, but also reductions in particulates, NO2 and SO2 when compared to all grades of oil.

Looking again at the recent report, off grid British industry as a whole currently uses almost 187 billion kW of energy a year, generated from almost 20 billion litres of oil. To do this, it is producing the equivalent of 58 million tonnes of CO2 a year.

However, if that energy had been generated from LPG, CO2 emissions would be cut by 13.2 million tonnes a year (23%), to just under 45 million tonnes. This saving is equivalent to 6.6 million flights from London to Sydney.

Again, the report has used averages as the basis for its figures, but savings of up to 50% are possible depending on current oil source and usage.

It's not just about the fuel source; the equipment also plays a large part in the money and pollution saving qualities of LPG. Oil boilers are expensive to run and maintain. A brand new LPG boiler needs far less maintenance and is cheaper to install than a new oil boiler.

In addition to the savings on installation and maintenance, a new LPG boiler runs at 95% efficiency, which means energy consumption could be reduced by 5%. Additionally, control systems can be recommended that see efficiency savings rise even further.

Switching to LPG is easy and most businesses will recoup the conversion costs in less than a year.

The switching process starts with a comprehensive site survey from Flogas' qualified engineers. They'll check the efficiency of your existing plant before designing a solution to suit your individual business needs.

Before any costs are committed or any work is carried out, you'll be shown the exact savings you can expect to see.

Flogas are the UK market leaders in oil to LPG conversion so, when you do make the switch to LPG, the Flogas team will take care of everything from civil works to the installation and commissioning of new plant equipment and LPG tanks.

It's a completely managed process from start to finish.

But,if making the switch is so easy, with conversion costs being recouped in a year, and obvious savings both financially and environmentally, why hasn't everyone converted to LPG?

According to Flogas head of bulk sales, Rob McCord, it's because people just don't know that there is an alternative to oil.

McCord comments: "We find the biggest reason that businesses still burn oil is a lack of awareness that there is a cheaper, greener alternative, or because they are under the misconception that switching is expensive or difficult. However, once they've seen how much they can save and how easy the process is, the conversion quickly follows."

If you're interested in finding out more, visit www.flogas.co.uk/oil2lpg

Savings calculation table