Repsol YPF

Propane gas solutions for the bakery sector

Propane gas is an energy source for any process involving heating, especially baking. Which fuel is used in manufacturing in the breads and pastry sector is determined mainly by the oven's requirements and by the knowledge that the manufacturer has about one fuel or another. 

The energy sources that are propane's competition in the manufacturing processes of bread and pastry are:

• Gas oil.
  
• Electricity.
  
• Natural gas.
  
• Fuel oil.
  
• Firewood.    

Not all of these energy sources can be used in all the manufacturing processes that require heat:

• You can still find small bakeries that make handmade products using coal. However, use of coal makes up less than 1% of the energy used in manufacturing bread and pastries.
  
• There are mixed ovens that can use gas or firewood. Firewood is hardly used nowadays, because of lack of time and staff. Firewood heats more, the flame is thinner but the heating is slower. However, nearly 39% of all businesses in the breadmaking subsector have a firewood oven in their establishment.
  
• Fuel oil is hardly used at all nowadays. Only 3% of companies in the breadmaking subsector have fuel oil ovens.
  
• Electricity is used for low energy consuming ovens. 14% of companies in the breadmaking subsector have at least one electric oven. Of these companies, 88% have at least one other oven that runs on some other fuel. Electricity and gas oil can be considered propane's direct competition. Natural gas, due to its current price, makes difficult the use of propane in this sector (in zones where it is available). In zones where there is natural gas, propane is used with medium- and low- consuming bakeries, where to connect to a natural gas network they would have to make a heavy initial investment, given that they are at some distance from the existing natural gas network.    

Regarding the main produced product, the following observations can be made:

• Electricity is used most for handmade cakes, where approximately 60% of existing ovens run on electricity. This is followed by cookie production. 
  
• Liquid fuels are used most for industrial cake baking (around 80%). This is followed by bread baking, where use of this type of oven is around 60%.
  
• Gases- natural gas and LPG- are used most for baking handmade cookies and cakes. Companies often use several energy sources, generally in different ovens, especially in small establishments.    

Deep fryers, burners or rings, cream cookers

This type of equipment, of low consumption, generally runs on electricity. However, it has also been developed to run on propane gas.

Ovens

As previously stated, ovens consume the most energy in the bread and pastry sector. This does not condition the use of the energy source in the rest of the equipment, since the fermentation chambers and the cold chambers that are used are electric (although electricity and cold generating systems could be developed by engines that run on propane).

Two energy sources (electricity and gas oil) are considered alternatives since, as previously stated, the remaining fuels, (except natural gas) are not used in the market today.