Mission Critical: Why LPG Must Be Central to Mission 300 by James Rockall, CEO, World Liquid Gas Association

Ending energy poverty is one of the defining challenges of our time. Ambitious plans promise a future where every household is connected to the grid. But for billions of people, that future is decades away. Communities need clean, reliable and resilient power today, not in 2050, and the fuels we choose now will determine whether progress is measured in years or decades.

LPG is the missing piece of the puzzle.       

It is clean, scalable, and deployable anywhere, from crowded cities to remote villages, from vaccine fridges to classrooms. It does not depend on grid connections or heavy infrastructure. For decentralised power generation, the kind that matters most for resilience in developing markets, LPG is not just a good option. It is the right one.

Today, millions rely on diesel generators: dirty, costly, and unreliable. Solar and wind are growing, but storage and intermittency challenges leave many in the dark. LPG bridges this gap immediately. Across Africa, it already powers clinics, farms, microgrids, delivering energy security, and with focused investment, LPG can become the backbone of reliable, clean energy access for millions today.

This is why Mission 300 for Africa, aiming to provide modern energy access to 300 million people by 2030, must put LPG at its core. We cannot hit the target on time without a solution that works now at scale, off-grid. LPG delivers.

And it brings a multiplier effect: power plus clean cooking. Today, 2.3 billion people still cook with wood, charcoal or dung. Household air pollution kills 3.7 million people every year, mostly women and children. The IEA estimates 130 million people must gain clean cooking access annually to meet global targets, with LPG projected to deliver 61% of that access by 2040.

One fuel, two solutions: energy for lights and fridges, and cleaner kitchens that save lives.

This is not a short-term fix. LPG already cuts emissions compared to diesel or biomass. Tomorrow, Renewable Liquid Gas (rLG), including renewable LPG and DME, will scale, using the same infrastructure with even lower carbon intensity. Every investment in LPG today builds the foundation for an even lower carbon tomorrow.

We don’t need to wait for a perfect, one-size-fits-all solution. We need to scale what works. LPG delivers immediate, reliable energy, saves lives, empowers communities, and accelerates a just energy transition.

Mission 300 is not just a goal, it’s a moral imperative. If we are serious about achieving it, LPG must be funded, supported, and deployed at speed. Because the promise of clean, modern energy is not one the world can afford to delay any longer.

For more on using LPG For Power Generation: www.worldliquidgas.org/key-focus-areas/power-generation