Without the roadmap for scaling up a new technology, the technology’s full potential will never be reached.
GreenQUEST understood this from the start. That’s why the project has always put as much emphasis on making the innovative technology industrially scalable and widely adoptable as it has on the scientific discoveries themselves.
One of the project’s main objectives was to answer a simple question: can green liquified fuel gas (gLFG) become a practical replacement for fossil liquefied petroleum gas (LPG)? And the project has demonstrated that it can. It is a sustainable, low-carbon drop-in replacement for LPG, ready to be used in existing LPG storage, distribution, and end-use infrastructure.
The challenge is no longer whether gLFG can be used in LPG-compatible applications, but how the technology can be industrialised, de-risked, financed, and introduced into the market.
Milestones Towards Commercialisation
In parallel with GreenQUEST’s scientific achievements, over the past four years the project has worked to set the stage for gLFG to be commercialised and enter industrial production.
The first step was to prove that gLFG can be industrially scaled up, which it has done by progressing gLFG from a laboratory concept to a validated early-stage technology platform. It has successfully:
- Produced gLFG samples in the GreenQUEST mini-plant, showing that gLFG production is possible
- Confirmed the practical use of gLFG in conventional LPG stove hardware and electricity generation, proving that gLFG can function as a drop-in fuel for LPG-compatible applications
- Assessed LPG-like storage requirements and compatible materials, preparing the technology for use in areas not on the electricity grid
- Completed a pilot-plant design, setting the foundation for pilot funding and industrialisation planning
- Developed a roadmap for industrial production, identifying the need for partnerships, policy support, market champions and carbon-value mechanisms
gLFG is approaching commercial readiness, but one of the final hurdles is the price tag. gLFG remains more expensive than fossil LPG. However, rather than waiting until research identifies a way to make gLFG more economically viable, GreenQUEST proposes that gLFG should already enter the South African and Southern African markets in two complementary ways: premium niche offtake for 100% gLFG and phased gLFG/fossil LPG blending. Premium niche offtake can support early production and visibility by marketing to customers willing to pay for a low-carbon alternative, while blending will reduce the carbon footprint of LPG usage.
Significance for GreenQUEST
GreenQUEST set about proving that gLFG can be a practical replacement for fossil LPG, and it succeeded. The project has successfully demonstrated that gLFG works in existing LPG infrastructure, that it can be stored, that production can be scaled up using the pilot-plant design, and that wide adoption of the fuel can be realized through the roadmap for commercialisation.
Now that the project has moved on from the initial questions of “does gLFG work?” and “how to bring it to market?”, the next step is to build on these achievements by implementing the recommendations made in the industry-led assessment, through pilot-scale production, field demonstrations, market entry and further research to make gLFG reach price parity.
Impact of gLFG on the Energy Transition and GreenQUEST’s Contribution Towards Society
GreenQUEST did not just develop a renewable fuel that provides a cleaner, safer and more efficient cooking fuel that helps reduce carbon emissions. It showed that it is not necessary to replace millions of cookstoves or other LPG infrastructure in order to move towards the energy transition, and in doing so it removed one of the major barriers to an inclusive energy transition in South Africa and Southern Africa.
Thanks to this new technology, there is now a practical pathway towards cleaner cooking, decentralised energy sources for communities beyond the electricity grid, and long-term energy security. The wider adoption of gLFG has the potential to improve public health, reduce emissions, and address energy poverty.