Liquefied petroleum gas (also known as pipette gas, LP Gas or LPG) is the mixture of liquefied gases present in natural gas or dissolved in petroleum. LPG is the fuel called to replace firewood and is composed mainly of propane and butane.
According to figures from GASNOVA and Superservicios, in the department of Chocó a total of 212,290 people consume LP Gas and there are 12,695 commercial and industrial establishments that use this fuel. For its part, in Quibdó there are 84,555 residential users and 5,725 commercial and industrial users.
Alejandro Martínez, president of the Colombian LPG Association – GASNOVA, a union that brings together the companies that distribute 74% of LP Gas in the country, analyzed the results of the National Firewood Substitution Plan – UPME (December 2022), which concluded that LPG is the main energy solution for 1.3 million homes to stop using highly polluting fuels such as firewood.
The document pointed out that the total estimated economic benefit for Colombian society by replacing firewood with clean fuels such as LP Gas is $925 billion a year.
LP Gas is the most efficient and fastest applied clean energy to replace firewood in the country. This conclusion was reached by the UPME (Unidad de Planeación Minero Energético, an entity attached to the Ministry of Mines and Energy), in the National Firewood Substitution Plan that it published in December 2022.
This document made a diagnosis of the consumption of inefficient and highly polluting fuels (CIAC) for cooking food, and based on technical criteria, it determined for each department of the country which are the most efficient energy sources to replace firewood, waste and coal, used for cooking in 1,691,000 homes (almost 6 million people), causing serious respiratory problems and the deforestation of 3,200 hectares of forests and jungles each year.
The goal for the year 2050 is to replace polluting fuels with clean energy in 1’377,000 homes. “It is estimated that in Colombia 341,000 children under 5 years of age and about 453,000 adult women over 30 years of age get sick annually due to the use of firewood, with an estimated economic value of $164,000 million pesos per year,” said Alejandro Martínez Villegas.
During the period of the current government (2022-2026) it is expected to replace polluting fuels in 159,000 homes, of which 76.5% will use LP Gas, as it is the most efficient and immediate solution. “At the end of execution (2050), LPG should be the clean source with the highest participation (37.1%) in the household goal (1,377,000). This must be included in the National Development Plan”, added the union leader, who also highlighted that “the total estimated economic benefit for society due to the substitution of firewood corresponds to $925 billion a year”.
The president of GASNOVA launched four relevant proposals to the national government, referring to LP Gas, to be included in the PND 2022-2026: “For the benefit of the 12 million Colombians who use LPG, the majority belonging to strata 1 and 2, we propose that the coverage of LPG subsidies be expanded, the sufficient national supply of LPG is guaranteed, the maximum regulated price of Ecopetrol is made independent of the international prices of propane and butane, and the natural gas distribution monopoly is eliminated”, he pointed out. Martinez Villegas.
The four GLP proposals to include in the PND 2022-2026
1. Expand the coverage of LPG subsidies given that the current subsidy covers only 6 departments (strata 1 and 2). LPG is the immediate solution to energy poverty. Distribution networks take time to install and natural gas is not efficient for many areas where LPG in cylinders is. While in 2023 LPG received $80 billion in subsidies, electricity receives $3 billion and natural gas $989 billion.
2. Guarantee the sufficient national supply of LPG since the imported product is more expensive than the regulated price product produced in the country. It is necessary to guarantee the largest amount of national LPG to supply the market, modifying the term of the offers with which Ecopetrol sells this fuel, so that supply contracts of at least one year can be counted on.
3. Separate the maximum regulated Ecopetrol price from the international prices of propane and butane.
4. Eliminate natural gas distribution monopoly. Make regulatory adjustments to ensure that LPG through networks can compete in the markets of all municipalities, controlling monopoly situations on the part of natural gas, which are generated by assigning rates in areas where the service may not be provided, but the penetration of LPG becomes impossible.