Island News & Views
General · 9th May 2007
Barry Saxifrage
GLOBAL WARMING FACEOFF - Want a simple way to help turn down the heat on global warming? Well if you use propane, here is an easy one. I did a bit of research on the impact of propane vs. electricity and the choice is clear...
THE ENVELOPE PLEASE
Simply switching from propane to electric when you have the chance will make tonnes of difference. Literally. BC electricity emits 83% less CO2 than using propane for the same task.
Every 177 gallons of propane you burn adds a tonne of new CO2 to global warming. Using an equivalent amount of BC electricity releases about 6 times less. Put another way, it takes 6 years of using electricity to have the same global warming impact of one year of using propane for the same purpose.
COOKING MORE THAN WATER
As one simple example, an electric cook stove used all year in BC will result in only about 160 pounds of new CO2. The same amount of cooking with propane stove will release nearly 1000 pounds.
WHY IS PROPANE SO BAD?
So far, global warming is caused primarily by humans burning fossil fuels. This releases tonnes of new CO2 per person into the atmosphere increasing the concentration. More CO2 = more heat. The problem is, as usual, too much of a good thing.
Propane is a fossil fuel. It is mostly carbon, all from deep underground. This carbon is not currently in circulation. When we burn it, it increases the amount of CO2 in circulation in the air. Every one pound of propane becomes three pounds of CO2. Odd but true...because each C from propane is joined by 2 Os from the air. Triple damages.
Everytime you heat something with propane you are heating the planet a tiny bit as well. Switching to BC electricity where you can will prevent tonnes of new CO2 from being released. A rare case of something that is both easy and effective. Low hanging fruit. When you get a chance, grab it.
WHY IS BC ELECTRICITY BETTER?
BC Hydro generates most of it's electricity from falling water...aka rain and snow. You can also think of rain and snow as a solar-recharged battery.
While there are many serious environmental problems with BC electricity dams...from a global warming standpoint, hydro power has far lower impact than fossil fuel burning. Everyone should weigh for themselves the problems of global warming, problems of dams, the problems of other energy options...and make their energy choices accordingly.
BC Hydro does burn some fossil fuels to create about 5% of it's electricity. This results in a small amount of new CO2 per kilowatt hour. Also BC currently imports some power from Alberta where it is generated mostly by fossil fuels. Without these Alberta imports BC electricity would be 94% better than propane.
HEADING FOR ZERO
So currently BC electricity is 83% better for global-warming than propane...but what about the future?
To borrow an old saying: Propane will be propane. It's never going to be anything but 100% bad for global warming. Every bit that is burned adds new CO2 to the air. Bad now...bad later. Bummer but true.
Is electricity going to get cleaner or dirtier? Well the crucial point is that the technology exists to make electricity generation totally free of greenhouse gas emissions. And there appears to be the will to do this in BC. Gordon Campbell has pledged that "all new and existing electricity produced in B.C. will be required to have net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2016." This also effectively kills the two big coal-fired power plants planned for BC. It makes BC a world leader in commitment to clean electricity. What was already a great choice from global warming standpoint seems to be trending in an even better direction.
CLIMATE CHANGE AND THE GRID
As ironic as it is...it's hard for me to escape the fact that when it comes to fighting climate change in B.C...the grid is an essential component.
We quickly need to reduce the carbon emissions from our energy by over 90% in a decade or two. Almost every low-carbon energy source we will need to use generates electricity: solar, wind, geothermal, hydro, tidal, wave. Most of these are intermittent suppliers requiring a grid with continuous sources like hydro to balance them all out.
Even fossil fuels can have much less global-warming impact today when used to create electricity in mega-power plants than when burned locally for the same use. One example: an electric car charged from newer coal-fired power plant emits 1/3 less CO2 per mile than 60mpg Prius. Why? Single point sources are easier to clean than millions of small ones. Electric grid looks like best way to use any fossil fuels in future as well.
Finally there is the dream some folks have of sustainably producing our power locally. Once again electricity is the clear winner over propane. There are dozens of ways to generate our own electricity from solar to wind to tidal to hydro.
OFF THE GRID?
Clearly there are folks in our communities who aren't hooked up to the electric grid. For them the propane network might be a good choice until a better solution comes along.
THE SWITCH
But for everyone else who is already connected to the grid, making the switch is about the easiest thing you can do to make a difference.
THE FINE PRINT:
* Electricity has 3413 BTU/kWh and is 95% efficient at heating.
* BC Hydro releases about 18g CO2/kWh = 1 lb CO2/25kWh
* Result = BC Hydro generates 80,000 BTUs of heat per pound of CO2
* BC Hydro imports enough Alberta power to increase GHG emissions by 2.6639 times. Combined result = 30,600 BTU of electric heat per pound of CO2
* Propane has 91600 BTU/gallon and is 70% efficient at heating.
* Propane releases 12.4 pounds of CO2 per gallon.
* Result = Propane generates 5,000 BTUs of heat per pound of CO2
* 5,000,000 BTU/year is a reasonable estimate for a BC home cooking needs.
* Propane is produced only by the big petroleum companies in the world as it is a product of natural gas and oil refining. In Canada it is then taken to Alberta and pumped into underground salt caverns. When needed it is piped and trucked to a series of transfer stations until it reaches you. This is just as much of a mega-corporate "grid" as electricity wires are. There is nothing local or small-scale or alternative about it.
* Natural gas is worse for global warming than propane. Natural gas is methane which if it leaks at all is 10-20 times more warming than CO2. It also produces fewer BTU per pound of CO2 emitted.
* CO2 naturally is very rare in the atmosphere. It makes up only 0.03% of the air compared to 78% for nitrogen and 21% for oxygen. That is why human emissions can so dramatically increase the amount of CO2 up there.
* Results will vary. If you live Alberta or Saskatchewan, please don't try this at home until you do the math yourselves. Parts of Canada, like these, produce most of their electricity from burning fossil-fuels. They emit 50 times more CO2 per kWh.
THE ENVELOPE PLEASE
Simply switching from propane to electric when you have the chance will make tonnes of difference. Literally. BC electricity emits 83% less CO2 than using propane for the same task.
Every 177 gallons of propane you burn adds a tonne of new CO2 to global warming. Using an equivalent amount of BC electricity releases about 6 times less. Put another way, it takes 6 years of using electricity to have the same global warming impact of one year of using propane for the same purpose.
COOKING MORE THAN WATER
As one simple example, an electric cook stove used all year in BC will result in only about 160 pounds of new CO2. The same amount of cooking with propane stove will release nearly 1000 pounds.
WHY IS PROPANE SO BAD?
So far, global warming is caused primarily by humans burning fossil fuels. This releases tonnes of new CO2 per person into the atmosphere increasing the concentration. More CO2 = more heat. The problem is, as usual, too much of a good thing.
Propane is a fossil fuel. It is mostly carbon, all from deep underground. This carbon is not currently in circulation. When we burn it, it increases the amount of CO2 in circulation in the air. Every one pound of propane becomes three pounds of CO2. Odd but true...because each C from propane is joined by 2 Os from the air. Triple damages.
Everytime you heat something with propane you are heating the planet a tiny bit as well. Switching to BC electricity where you can will prevent tonnes of new CO2 from being released. A rare case of something that is both easy and effective. Low hanging fruit. When you get a chance, grab it.
WHY IS BC ELECTRICITY BETTER?
BC Hydro generates most of it's electricity from falling water...aka rain and snow. You can also think of rain and snow as a solar-recharged battery.
While there are many serious environmental problems with BC electricity dams...from a global warming standpoint, hydro power has far lower impact than fossil fuel burning. Everyone should weigh for themselves the problems of global warming, problems of dams, the problems of other energy options...and make their energy choices accordingly.
BC Hydro does burn some fossil fuels to create about 5% of it's electricity. This results in a small amount of new CO2 per kilowatt hour. Also BC currently imports some power from Alberta where it is generated mostly by fossil fuels. Without these Alberta imports BC electricity would be 94% better than propane.
HEADING FOR ZERO
So currently BC electricity is 83% better for global-warming than propane...but what about the future?
To borrow an old saying: Propane will be propane. It's never going to be anything but 100% bad for global warming. Every bit that is burned adds new CO2 to the air. Bad now...bad later. Bummer but true.
Is electricity going to get cleaner or dirtier? Well the crucial point is that the technology exists to make electricity generation totally free of greenhouse gas emissions. And there appears to be the will to do this in BC. Gordon Campbell has pledged that "all new and existing electricity produced in B.C. will be required to have net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2016." This also effectively kills the two big coal-fired power plants planned for BC. It makes BC a world leader in commitment to clean electricity. What was already a great choice from global warming standpoint seems to be trending in an even better direction.
CLIMATE CHANGE AND THE GRID
As ironic as it is...it's hard for me to escape the fact that when it comes to fighting climate change in B.C...the grid is an essential component.
We quickly need to reduce the carbon emissions from our energy by over 90% in a decade or two. Almost every low-carbon energy source we will need to use generates electricity: solar, wind, geothermal, hydro, tidal, wave. Most of these are intermittent suppliers requiring a grid with continuous sources like hydro to balance them all out.
Even fossil fuels can have much less global-warming impact today when used to create electricity in mega-power plants than when burned locally for the same use. One example: an electric car charged from newer coal-fired power plant emits 1/3 less CO2 per mile than 60mpg Prius. Why? Single point sources are easier to clean than millions of small ones. Electric grid looks like best way to use any fossil fuels in future as well.
Finally there is the dream some folks have of sustainably producing our power locally. Once again electricity is the clear winner over propane. There are dozens of ways to generate our own electricity from solar to wind to tidal to hydro.
OFF THE GRID?
Clearly there are folks in our communities who aren't hooked up to the electric grid. For them the propane network might be a good choice until a better solution comes along.
THE SWITCH
But for everyone else who is already connected to the grid, making the switch is about the easiest thing you can do to make a difference.
THE FINE PRINT:
* Electricity has 3413 BTU/kWh and is 95% efficient at heating.
* BC Hydro releases about 18g CO2/kWh = 1 lb CO2/25kWh
* Result = BC Hydro generates 80,000 BTUs of heat per pound of CO2
* BC Hydro imports enough Alberta power to increase GHG emissions by 2.6639 times. Combined result = 30,600 BTU of electric heat per pound of CO2
* Propane has 91600 BTU/gallon and is 70% efficient at heating.
* Propane releases 12.4 pounds of CO2 per gallon.
* Result = Propane generates 5,000 BTUs of heat per pound of CO2
* 5,000,000 BTU/year is a reasonable estimate for a BC home cooking needs.
* Propane is produced only by the big petroleum companies in the world as it is a product of natural gas and oil refining. In Canada it is then taken to Alberta and pumped into underground salt caverns. When needed it is piped and trucked to a series of transfer stations until it reaches you. This is just as much of a mega-corporate "grid" as electricity wires are. There is nothing local or small-scale or alternative about it.
* Natural gas is worse for global warming than propane. Natural gas is methane which if it leaks at all is 10-20 times more warming than CO2. It also produces fewer BTU per pound of CO2 emitted.
* CO2 naturally is very rare in the atmosphere. It makes up only 0.03% of the air compared to 78% for nitrogen and 21% for oxygen. That is why human emissions can so dramatically increase the amount of CO2 up there.
* Results will vary. If you live Alberta or Saskatchewan, please don't try this at home until you do the math yourselves. Parts of Canada, like these, produce most of their electricity from burning fossil-fuels. They emit 50 times more CO2 per kWh.