This remarkable fuel serves approximately 60 million people in the United States, where approximately 15 billion gallons of propane are consumed annually.

In 1994, propane was used as follows:

78.8 million gallons for utility/gas industry usage

507 million gallons for internal combustion engine use

1.5 billion gallons for other uses including agricultural

5.4 billion gallons for residential/commercial usage

9.0 billion gallons for chemical/industrial usage

Residential Uses

People use propane for heating and cooling homes, heating water, cooking, refrigeration, drying clothes, barbecuing, lighting, and relaxing in front of the gas fireplace.

More and more homes, even those found in the affluent outskirts of metropolitan areas, are being built to use propane--supplied discreetly, almost invisibly, from the underground tanks. And where soil conditions or terrain make buried tanks impractical above ground tanks are incorporated directly into the siting plans..

Home buyers prefer gas energy because it is clean, reliable and far more economical than electricity. And where natural gas lines don't go, propane does. So all the benefits of gas really are available wherever the home buyer wants them, wherever new homes are built. That's why the number of homes using propane--already nearly 8 million strong--is growing every day!

Commercial Uses

Commercial establishments such as hotels, motels and restaurants use propane in the same way a homeowner does: for heating and cooling air, heating water, cooking, refrigeration, drying clothes, barbecuing and lighting. Industrial sites rely on it for space heating, brazing, soldering, cutting, heat treating, annealing, vulcanizing and many other uses. Petrochemical industries use propane as a feedstock to make such products as plastic bags.