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In Brief
- LPG is a cheaper fuel option for motorists, and a source available locally.
- The debate around fuel supply has renewed questions about LPG’s viability as an alternative fuel source for cars.
In Australia, LPG is priced at about half that of standard unleaded fuel. It’s locally produced and emits fewer pollutants than traditional petrol. Despite these advantages, the availability of LPG at service stations is on the decline nationwide.
As worries intensify over Australia’s fuel supply and the increasing cost of petrol due to tensions in the Middle East, some drivers are advocating for LPG, also known as Autogas, as a viable alternative. They are urging for wider accessibility to this fuel option.
Susanna Doria, a Sydney-based entrepreneur who operates a small automotive parts business, specializes in converting petrol vehicles to run on LPG.
Recently, Doria has noticed a surge in inquiries about these conversions. She attributes this interest to the rising fuel prices and the current global fuel crisis.
Doria emphasizes the importance of including LPG in the market to provide consumers with more fuel choices and alternatives.
“Long term, it should be an option available to motorists. We shouldn’t be taking it away. We should be giving them the options for them to decide what fuel they want to run,” she said.
What is LPG?
LPG — or liquefied petroleum gas — is a type of fuel that is a mixture of propane and butane. It became popular in Australia after the 1970s global oil crisis.
It’s lower in emissions — one study in Europe suggested it produced 15 per cent less carbon dioxide than petrol-fuelled cars. However, it’s not as efficient compared to petrol, and more litres are required to run the same distance as a petrol car.
Doria has been using LPG for 40 years in her car, which also runs on petrol.
“It does everything exactly the same. You wouldn’t know except for a button on the dash that you can choose between LPG or petrol. Very simple,” she told SBS News.
It is usually around half the cost of petrol per litre. In Sydney the cost of LPG is averaging around $1.13 per litre, according to the NRMA, while in Melbourne it’s 80c per litre, according to Fuel Price Australia.
Given that Australia is a gas producer, motorists like Doria argue the price should be even lower than that.
“The price you see at the bowser is not a reflection of the cost of getting the LPG, if it was Australia and we supplied it,” she said.
“Unfortunately, the pricing of LPG is no different to the pricing for petrol or diesel, it’s an algorithm that’s applied based on an international rate.”
Doria said political decisions have affected the availability and costs of LPG.
“We should be self-sufficient in fuel. We shouldn’t be relying on other countries to get it, given that we have so much of it (LPG) here,” she said.
“We export it to our trade partners for a fraction, like minuscule amounts of money, but we don’t make it available to our local community and our local motorists.”
Hussein Dia, a professor of Future Urban Mobility at Swinburne University of Technology, said local production would mean Australia wouldn’t need to rely on imports.
“You don’t need to worry about shipping costs, you don’t need to worry about all what we’re going through, like high insurance.
“I would expect, per litre, it could be lower (in cost).”
But he said that’s only one part of the story — the other part is building the actual LPG vehicle market itself, which has shrunk significantly.
What happened to LPG in Australia?
Sales of LPG-running cars boomed in the mid-2000s when the government offered subsidies and local car manufacturers Ford and Holden created factory-installed systems on Falcons and Commodores.
But today, there are around just 51,000 cars that run on LPG and natural gas only across the country, according to figures from the Bureau of Infrastructure and Transport.
In 2018, no new LPG cars were sold and it’s no longer possible to buy a new one; used vehicles or conversions are the only options for interested buyers.
With fewer such cars on the road, the number of petrol stations that offer the fuel is also dwindling. In NSW, according to government fuel apps, there are fewer than 200 service stations that sell LPG — and most of those are concentrated in metro Sydney areas. In Victoria, it’s 637, and in Western Australia, there are now just 50 from the 329 a decade ago.
The demise of local car manufacturing, the rise of hybrid and electric vehicles and a lack of federal support are all blamed for the steady decline of LPG-running cars in Australia.
When government subsidies to convert cars ceased, and the introduction of a fuel excise on LPG sales was introduced in 2011, prices became more expensive and the economic incentive to move to LPG was removed.
Dia said when the incentives disappeared, the conversions of cars to LPG practically stopped.
Andrew Blakers, the director of the Centre for Sustainable Energy Systems at the Australian National University, said electric vehicles won the race to replace the petrol vehicle and LPG simply “failed” in the marketplace.
“Governments can help nudge technology here or there, but unless they want to spend very large amounts of money, in the end, the market does determine what wins,” he told SBS News.
“It’s just game over,” he said.
Is there still a future for LPG?
Doria said her main dilemma is finding a station that still supplies LPG, though she has two within her suburb.
“We’re losing stations. We’re losing the ability to go to a service station and fill up with LPG,” she said.
“The largest complaint we get from customers today is they used to be able to pull up down the road or somewhere else, and now they’re having to go further to find LPG.”
Because LPG-fuelled cars are no longer sold in Australia, those who want it as an option would have to retrofit the car.
For those willing to consider LPG conversion, the cost is also not cheap: around $2,000 to $5,000.
NRMA spokesman Peter Khoury said LPG conversion is not a viable option for most people.
“I mean, for the purpose of this crisis, I don’t know how many people are going to go out and put an LPG tank in their boot,” he told SBS News.
“I’m not sure why you’d convert to LPG when there’s only 80 odd servos in Sydney selling them.”
Dia said it would take a massive effort to renew an LPG vehicle industry.
“You would need to rebuild not just the vehicle market, but also the refuelling network, which is already shrinking. That’s why the focus is shifting to electric vehicles, to the infrastructure is actually expanding, not contracting.”
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