By better aligning its vision with UN sustainability goals, the LGE hopes to avoid any accusations of greenwashing by using data-driven evidence
European LPG industry association Liquid Gas Europe (LGE) has released its first ever Sustainability Charter in the run up to its annual congress in Katowice, Poland — kicking off as LPG World goes to press. The charter attempts to align the sector with global sustainability efforts and paves the way for data collection and annual reporting from the LGE and its members. But tangible signs of progress in terms of industry investment in, and regulatory backing for, renewable liquid gases (RLGs) still seems lacking.
The charter establishes a forward-looking environmental, social and governance (ESG) framework in step with the UN's sustainable development goals (SDG) as well as European policy objectives, according to the association. In doing so, it shifts some of the emphasis away from how to move the sector from conventional LPG to RLGs such as bioLPG and renewable DME within the next 25 years, towards targeting overarching sustainability while still pursuing social equity and economic prosperity.
The need for LPG as a bridging fuel to a sustainable future that involves RLGs and other potential alternatives unquestionably remains core to these efforts. But could the more holistic framework help the LGE better get its message across to those working in the SDG and ESG space? It is likely to be branded as a new form of "social washing" on top of greenwashing by environmental groups and campaigners. But a better awareness from policy makers of the need for joined-up thinking and public-private partnership should lessen the proliferation of these views, particularly if the benefits can be clearly communicated.
The document provides a series of case studies and plans for voluntary data collection by "at least 50pc of members", which will be used to provide updates on the industry's performance in the LGE's first sustainability report. Data collection will commence this year, but no timeline is given for the release of the first report. A review of the overall charter has been scheduled for 2030.
The case studies provided include efforts from European distributors SHV Energy and UGI International to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from their operations and promote RLG sales. These include SHV's use of hydrotreated vegetable oil (HVO) biodiesel-powered LPG trucks in Belgium, and UGI's use of solar photovoltaic technology at filling plants in Poland and LPG vending machines in France. UGI's nascent biopropane sales in France and Scandinavia are also highlighted. It would be hard to argue the merit of these endeavours. But one may still question their scalability.
The move to data collecting and reporting is positive in terms of accountability, and it should help the LGE better convey what its members are achieving on the ground as well as what challenges they are facing. But as it is voluntary and unaudited by external organisations, it is likely to be open to credibility concerns.
Dimeta reading
All of this comes in the fallout of the failure of SHV and UGI's Dimeta joint venture. A lot of fanfare and optimism surrounded the renewable DME start-up and the projects it planned to develop in Europe and the US over this decade, including the first planned plant at Teesside in the UK. Little is known about the specific reasons behind its dissolution or the status of the project at Teesside. Perhaps more open discussions surrounding the project's failure could be beneficial to future endeavours. And although SHV and Ireland-based DCC Energy signed an agreement to work together on producing RLGs in November 2024, helping to draw attention away from Dimeta, it is now seven months since that announcement with little in the way of publicised progress since. Maybe more will be gleaned on SHV and DCC's collaboration in Poland over 20-22 May.
