Is Propane the Energy Source of Tomorrow For America?

Propane and propane accessories are important to America. Always have been; always will be. In fact, it’s likely that propane usage is only going to increase from where it is now.

It’s an extremely versatile fuel that’s used by over 9 million families for furnaces, cooktops, water heaters, outdoor grills, generators, fireplaces, and other appliances. It’s cleaner, more cost-effective, efficient, and reliable than many of the energy sources we use today.

In fact, we underutilize our favorite cost efficient fuel — the other, less effective energy sources are actually a lot more popular.

It shouldn’t be that way, though. As of 2016, there are over 1 million commercial establishments (like hotels, restaurants, laundromats, etc.) using propane for many of the same purposes as residential homeowners. Propane is particularly efficient for heating and cooling the air in an enclosed space, heating water, refrigeration, cooking, drying clothes, lighting things, and drying clothes. Considering it does all of the above (and more) in a cleaner, more cost-effective way than most other fuels, it’s something of a mystery why it isn’t used more.

Even more confusing is its seeming lack of prominence in the industrial sector. Only about 350,000 industrial sites in the U.S. rely on propane for part or all of their operation. This is in spite of the fact that propane is efficient for space heating, soldering, brazing, cutting, annealing, vulcanizing, and heat treating. The main use of propane fuel in the industrial setting is for the manufacturing of plastics.

Yet, the popularity of this gas is on the rise. It’s made as a result of mining for other energy sources and gas products (like crude oil), and the U.S. has so much of it that in 2012, for the first time in history, they became a net exporter on the global scale.

As the scarcity of other gasses and natural energies increases and we are increasingly forced to lessen our dependence on foreign oils and resource-heavy mining, propane is likely to become the go-to energy source for at least the near future. Propane and propane accessories are as common as ever, and you may have propane tanks on your property soon enough.