A nationwide education effort to promote the ways propane can help cut greenhouse gas emissions, improve air quality, lower energy costs, and reduce America's dependence on foreign oil was announced today by the propane industry.

Led by the Propane Education and Research Council (PERC), the goal is to inform the country of how expanding the use of propane could begin cutting emissions of greenhouse gases immediately. "Significant and swift progress toward environmental goals is within reach," said Roy Willis, president and CEO of PERC.

"The key is to more fully embrace the clean alternative energies, like wind, solar, natural gas, ethanol, and propane, that are already used across the country."

Propane is a low-carbon alternative fuel that emits significantly lower amounts of greenhouse gases and smog-producing hydrocarbons than conventional fuels emit.

While its portability has made it a staple for home and water heating in rural areas, its environment-friendly profile also makes it extremely appealing to people looking for clean energy options for transportation, commercial, and agricultural uses, said Willis. And propane also boasts the most robust nationwide infrastructure of any alternative fuel, meaning it is ready for expansion beyond rural households immediately.

Advocates see propane as a natural complement to the renewable and alternative energies - like wind, solar, natural gas, and ethanol - that are frequently cited in any energy discussion.

Only through a combination of these energies, including propane, they maintain, will the United States be able to reduce greenhouse gases, improve air quality, lower energy costs, and expand its energy self-reliance.

Recently, T. Boone Pickens highlighted propane as an important part of the Pickens Plan, citing propane's environment-friendly profile and ample production in the United States.

"America has the opportunity today to reduce its dependence on foreign oil while protecting the environment by making the most of domestic energy sources," said Pickens. "Propane is clean, it's American-made, and it can be put to work right now."

About 95 percent of propane, a byproduct of natural gas processing and crude oil refining, is produced in North America, much of it from natural gas found in the United States. As more U.S. natural gas reserves are explored, more propane can be produced domestically.

Despite the environmental and energy self-reliance advantages of propane, it is often overlooked as a viable national energy option. The propane industry's desire to change that omission is central to the campaign, rolling out nationwide with television, radio, newsmagazine, and online advertising beginning to appear this week and continuing through 2009.

And the propane industry will continue its partnership with T. Boone Pickens to help tell the stories of the many examples of propane technology already in use today to educate through public relations, social media, conferences, and other online opportunities.