Oberon Fuels Drives Down Emissions from Propane with New rDME/Propane Blend
April 27 2022 - 9:00AM
Oberon Fuels (“Oberon”) announces commercial availability of a new
approach to drive down emissions across the propane industry: a
blend of propane and Oberon’s renewable DME (dimethyl ether). This
blend replaces some of propane’s fossil-derived fuel with a
renewable one, enabling up to a 60 percent reduction in carbon
emissions for this popular fuel used in vehicles, forklifts, farm
equipment, backyard grills and outdoor heaters. Beginning today,
Oberon partner Suburban Propane Partners, L.P. (NYSE: SPH), the
third largest propane supplier in the U.S., is the first company to
make this more sustainable blended product available to its
customers across Southern California.
“Blending renewable DME (rDME) with propane can
slash emissions and fits readily with existing storage,
transportation and fueling infrastructure,” said Rebecca Boudreaux,
Ph.D., President and CEO of Oberon. “Oberon’s rDME is a
straightforward and scalable way for propane distributors and their
customers to become more sustainable and will lead to overall
emissions reductions from the propane sector which is a critical
step to meeting global climate commitments.”
The milestone builds on Oberon’s 2021 start of
commercial production at its Maverick plant in Brawley, California.
Oberon’s breakthroughs have benefited from California Energy
Commission investment and Imperial County Workforce and Economic
Development programs, helping to build local jobs and
industrialization opportunities. Oberon is moving forward on design
and site acquisition for its second, larger commercial plant and is
evaluating a pipeline of follow-on projects and partnerships around
the world.
Because rDME is similar to propane in its
chemical structure, it can be blended with propane, transported in
the same trucks, and used in similar applications, while notably
reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. For instance, if used as a
20% blend in all propane worldwide, Oberon’s rDME could reduce GHGs
by 750 million metric tons per year.
“Renewable DME offers our customers a simple way
to reduce emissions, without the need to make significant
investments in new technologies to meet decarbonization standards,
which is increasingly important to them,” said Michael Stivala,
President and Chief Executive Officer of Suburban Propane.
“Blending Oberon’s rDME with propane is one of the key elements of
our strategy to offer more sustainable options for the markets we
serve and to support the overall energy transition with low carbon
alternatives. We look forward to increasing both the blend rate and
availability of the blended product in the coming months.”
Each year, more than 170 million tons of propane
are produced globally. While propane produces lower emissions than
other fossil-based fuels, it is still responsible for 1.3 billion
metric tons of GHGs each year, or over 2 percent of total global
CO2 emissions. Because Oberon’s rDME fuel is made from waste and
other renewable resources (such as renewable methanol from paper
mill waste, or biogas from local farms), it has low, or even
negative carbon emissions.
About Oberon
FuelsCalifornia-based Oberon Fuels is on a mission to
decarbonize the fuel and energy sectors through the
commercialization of renewable dimethyl ether (rDME). Oberon’s low
or carbon-negative rDME can reduce the carbon intensity of propane
by up to 60 percent when blended, offering potential reductions in
global CO2 of 750 million metric tons per year. rDME’s
characteristics also makes it a compelling means for transporting
hydrogen for its myriad, fast-growing applications. For more
information, visit www.oberonfuels.com.
A photo accompanying this announcement is available at
https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/d2638bee-ab76-4dd3-811a-eae01a5174b0
Media Contact
John Williams, Scoville PR for Oberon Fuels
+1-206-660-5503, jwilliams@scovillepr.com
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