Use of L.P.G. urged

Press, 14 August 1976, Page 10

Use of L.P.G. urged

Staff reporter Blenheim The Mayor of Blenheim (Mr S. P. Hading) wants households in the borough i to be supplied with liquid . petroleum gas as an alter- I native to coal gas. He has j long advocated the use of L.P.G. as an alternative > energy source. i The Minister of Energy i Resources (Mr Holland) re-1 cently estimated that the : cost of supplying L.P.G. to ' I Blenheim was 12c a litre on < Itop of the North Island 1 I supply price. The extra cost, |he said, represented trans- i jportation of L.P.G. across: jCook Strait. i The Blenheim Borough!; i Council had been waiting; jfor Mr Holland to announce!; (the likely price before de-h jciding whether to proceed; (with a bottled L.P.G system.;; (The council felt that the!: < price was too high, but Mr! iHariing said he still wanted Ito see L.P.G. in Blenheim,; I even if it meant taking the]. Ibold step of the Council’s itransporting L.P.G. to Blenheim itself.

“I recently visited several! slands in the South ’acific, and even some of the! none remote areas there had i supply of bottled L.P.G.”, dr Hailing said. “Those supdies were shipped from Australia, so if they can ransport L.P.G. across housands of miles of >cean at an economic rate. I annot see what makes Cook itrait such a great obstacle." Jottled L.P.G. was also ommon in remote areas of Canada. Mr Harling said that gas. “specially L.P.G.. had many; idvantages over electricity—t was as clean as electricity,; md much faster. Blenheim was under con;iderable pressure to find an; iltemative to its existing gas; •upplies. as the borough's; ;as works could not run nuch longer. Mr Harling! laid. The works had already' asted five sears longer!, han they should have, and; hey would probably have to, ast for at least another fivei .ears.

“If the Council is forced to :lose the gas works, as it nust one day. an alternative tnergy supply must be ivailable to take its place, ind L.P.G. is the logical alemative,” Mr Harling said. The council would have o pay out huge compensaion. estimated at hundreds >f thousands of dollars, to tundreds of households in ilenheim which might have o replace gas appliances if he council had to replace its •resent gas supplies with ilectricity. Mr Harling said that he ■ould not see why successive Jovemments had not been •ncouraging the use of L.P.G “To the Blenheim Borough Zouncil. L.P.G. is a clear-cut iltemative —and we have •ven installed plant for de ■anting it into bottles as the ;as works.” he said. "L.P.G. has worked so well •verseas that I can *ee no eason why it cannot work vith the same success tn sew Zealand." he said.