Ragasco delivers LPG cylinders with environmental and humanitarian benefits

Liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) has traditionally been delivered in steel cylinders, which still dominate the global market.

Composite cylinders are the new generation for LPG containment. Ragasco delivers its product to some 100 countries on five continents, converting more and more users worldwide.

Ragasco’s LPG cylinders are manufactured of fibreglass-reinforced composite material with a plastic liner on the inside. They are significantly lighter to carry and handle, reducing logistics costs as well as transport emissions, and providing better ergonomics for users.

Ragasco’s composite LPG cylinders are among the safest LPG cylinders on the market. In the event of fire, the composite material shields the gas from the heat, preventing a boiling liquid expanding vapour explosion (BLEVE) common in steel cylinders.

The cylinders are rust-free, eliminating the need for costly and environmentally unfriendly refurbishment over time. They are also highly durable, with a proven lifetime of more than 20 years.

“Through research and development, we constantly work on increasing the lifetime of our cylinders and improving their carbon footprint throughout their value chain,” Haver points out.

Ragasco’s composite LPG cylinders are fully functional with both conventional and Bio-LPG. The cylinder has been awarded three Environmental Product Declarations (EPD): one focusing on the product stage; the second covering the complete life cycle; and the third, and most recent, documenting the full life cycle of the Linktra Smart Cylinder.

The company produces its LPG composite cylinders in a fully automated, state-of-the-art production plant in Norway. The plant is ISO 50001 certified for energy efficiency, and the company is ISO 14001 certified for integrated waste management and environmental management.

In addition to its environmental focus, Ragasco is dedicated to social sustainability as well. About one-third of the global population has no access to clean cooking fuel. Instead, people rely on coal, wood, kerosene or animal and crop waste, burned in open fires or in inefficient stoves that release health-damaging pollutants.

“LPG produces less CO₂ than coal, heating oil or petrol. It emits virtually no black carbon or other particulates and is as clean as natural gas. Use of LPG will dramatically improve the lives of low-income people around the world, especially in developing countries,” says Haver.

“This is an ethical issue,” he continues. “While Europe is aiming to phase out LPG, developing countries need to shift to LPG to reduce energy poverty. Renewable energy for cooking is not easily available in these countries, and LPG is the best transition fuel for clean cooking.”

The gas cylinder market is expected to reach USD 1 billion by 2031, due in part to the demand for LPG in developing countries.

“Since 2000, we have sold 25 million of the 2 billion LPG cylinders currently on the world market, which gives us a global market share of 1 per cent. We are already the global leader in composite gas cylinders, but the sustainability-driven demand for our product indicates a huge potential for continued global growth,” says Skattum.

Ragasco has customers in close to 100 countries and many of its growing markets are in countries outside of Europe.