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North Circular Road

The North Circular Road (officially the A406 and sometimes known as simply the North Circular) is a 25.7 mi ring road around Central London in England. It runs from Chiswick in the west to Woolwich in the east via suburban North London, connecting various suburbs and other trunk roads in the region. Together with its counterpart, the South Circular Road, it mostly forms a ring road around central London, except for crossing of the River Thames, which is done by the Woolwich Ferry.

The road was constructed in the Interwar period to connect local industrial communities and by pass London. It was upgraded after World War II, and was at one point planned to become a motorway as part of the controversial and ultimately cancelled London Ringways scheme. In the early 1990s, the road was extended to bypass Barking and meet the A13 north of Woolwich, though without a direct link to the ferry.

The road's design varies from six-lane dual carriageway to urban streets; the latter, although short, cause traffic congestion in London and are regularly featured on local traffic reports, particularly at Bounds Green. The uncertainty of development has caused urban decay and property blight along its route, and led to criticism over its poor pollution record. Several London Borough Councils have set up regeneration projects to improve the environment for communities close to the road.

Route
The North Circular Road forms the northern part of a ring-road around Central London. It has seen substantially more investment than its counterpart, the South Circular Road, and consequently runs on more purpose-built road than urban streets, often coupled with demolition of existing houses and urban infrastructure. Although the route has alternative names at some points, it is generally referred to as the North Circular throughout for route planning purposes. The route is mostly grade-separated dual carriageway from the A40 at Hanger Lane to the A13 in Beckton except for the Drury Way/Brentfield Road junction, the Golders Green Road/Brent Street junction, Henlys Corner and the section from Bounds Green to Green Lanes. In areas where improvements made slowest progress and upgrades are unlikely, the original names such as Gunnersbury Avenue and Bowes Road are used.

Gunnersbury, Hanger Lane and Brent Cross

The road begins in Gunnersbury at the Chiswick flyover (junction 1 of the M4), from which the South Circular Road (A205) heads south over Kew Bridge, and the A4 heads east towards Chiswick and west towards Brentford. The first section runs along Gunnersbury Avenue through Gunnersbury Park to Ealing Common, with a mix of single and dual carriageways, where it becomes Hanger Lane. The road crosses the Great Western Main Line west of Paddington to the Hanger Lane gyratory system, a large roundabout on top of the Western Avenue (the A40) with Hanger Lane tube station. This is one of the busiest junctions in London, used by 10,000 vehicles an hour.

The A406 runs on purpose-built road to the north of the Hanger Lane Gyratory, and is referred to as "North Circular Road" on street signs. The road is a six-lane dual carriageway that connects the industrial estates in the area, and passes beneath the West Coast Main Line near Stonebridge Park. Beyond this, there is a junction with IKEA and the Neasden temple to the south-east, and the road runs alongside open land south of the Welsh Harp Reservoir. Beyond the reservoir, there is a large interchange with the Edgware Road (A5) and junction 1 of the M1 motorway at Staples Corner, and a junction for the Brent Cross Shopping Centre at the Brent Cross Interchange (joining the A41 from Finchley). This section of the North Circular was used for filming the car chasing sequences in Withnail and I.

Northeast of Brent Cross, at Henlys Corner, the North Circular briefly shares carriageways with the A1, which joins it from the left and leaves it to the right to head into Central London. The junction complex also serves the Finchley Road and pedestrian traffic, and consequently is a major bottleneck on the route. Transport for London have invested in the junction, including a special hands-free crossing for the local Jewish community, who can then cross the road on the Sabbath. The road passes north of St Pancras and Islington Cemetery towards Friern Barnet and Muswell Hill. The road narrows to two-lane single carriageway to pass under the East Coast Main Line, and continues as Telford Road towards Bounds Green.

Southgate, Woodford and Beckton
Traffic on the North Circular Road must turn right from Telford Road into Bowes Road, which causes problems with heavy goods vehicles. The road continues past densely packed housing and business areas before widening at Green Lanes and assuming the North Circular Road name again. At Great Cambridge Interchange, its most northerly point, the A406 crosses Great Cambridge Road (A10). The disused Angel Road railway station is partially located beneath the flyover at Angel Road, in an area marked for redevelopment known as Meridian Water. This leads onto the Lea Valley Viaduct that provides a safe crossing of the River Lea's flood plain. The viaduct is part of the original construction and was one of the first of its kind to be built using reinforced concrete.

After the viaduct the road becomes Southend Road, passing north of Walthamstow, and immediately before the Crooked Billet junction, the former site of Walthamstow Stadium. It continues eastward, cutting through a southern section of Epping Forest and meeting the Woodford New Road at Waterworks Corner, before an elevated junction with the M11 motorway and Southend Road heading to Gants Hill. The South Woodford to Barking Relief Road (the section between the M11 and A13) opened in 1987. Previously, the A406 extended along Southend Road and Woodford Avenue as far east as Gants Hill. The current route of the North Circular Road turns south, passing Eastern Avenue (A12) on a flyover at the Redbridge roundabout. It passes Romford Road (the historic Roman Road from London to Colchester) to the west of Ilford and London Road, Barking, and ends at a roundabout with the A13 Newham Way/Alfred's Way in Beckton.

To reach the Woolwich Ferry, traffic must follow local roads to the ferry terminal – the A1020 Royal Docks Road, and the A117 named successively as Woolwich Manor Way, Albert Road and Pier Road. The Woolwich Ferry leads across the River Thames, connecting with the eastern end of the South Circular Road on the other side of the river. The junction with the A13 has been built to enable the North Circular to be continued across the junction to the Thames Gateway Bridge if and when it is built.

Early history
Proposals for a route avoiding Central London had been in place since the early 20th century due to increasing levels of traffic. In 1910, the London Traffic Division of the Board of Trade had built up schemes for new roads, including what became the North Circular Road, which was designed to skirt the extent of urban development along suburbs.

The North Circular Road was originally designed as an unemployment relief scheme following the First World War. Various manufacturing industries, including furniture production, had moved away from the East End in the early 20th century and started to be based in areas on the fringes of outer London development. As well as a general bypass of Central London, it would connect the communities of Edmonton, Tottenham and Walthamstow, and allow former munitions factories to be reused for industrial purposes. Further west, industrial work increased around Wembley to cater for the 1924 British Empire Exhibition, while former military factories at Willesden, Hendon and Acton would also benefit from being connected by the North Circular Road. The land used for the route was mostly cheap, which encouraged further works and factories to be built by the road. Purpose-built sections were designed to dual carriageway standards, including a 27 ft wide carriageway accompanied by 9 ft verges.

The original route ran from Chiswick to Southgate, and was open to traffic by the 1930s. Although it mostly ran on newly built road, a section east of Southgate used existing streets. By the end of the decade, the area surrounding the Park Royal estate had become the largest industrial estate in the south of England, and the London Passenger Transport Board was receiving regular complaints about the excess traffic levels.

Due to laxer laws that allowed housing to be built on major roads, as London suburbs developed, residential properties were built on the North Circular Road. The original purpose-built road had been designed with no speed limit, as was typically the case in the 1920s, but by 1951 a 30 mph speed limit was enforced along the route.

In 1946 the North Circular Road became a trunk road, funded from a national budget set by the Ministry of Transport (MOT) rather than a local one.

London Ringways
After reviewing traffic conditions in 1961, the Ministry of Transport planned to increase the capacity of the North Circular Road, grade separating as many junctions as possible, particularly those connecting with important arterial routes. In the 1960s the Greater London Council developed the London Ringways Plan to construct a series of circular and radial motorways throughout London with the hope of easing traffic congestion in the central area. Under this plan the North Circular Road was to be improved to dual-carriageway standard throughout the majority of its length by the late 1970s.

The Ringway projects were extremely unpopular and caused widespread protests, which led to the cancellation of the plans in 1972, particularly after the Westway had opened in the face of large-scale protest two years earlier. In 1974, the MOT scaled back plans to improve the North Circular Road, though by the end of the decade they had revised plans to improve the route to dual carriageway throughout without any property frontages. In 1979, the Ministry of Transport planned to improve the Great Cambridge Road Roundabout with a £17 million scheme that would have demolished over 100 houses and shops. This was cancelled and replaced with a straightforward underpass in 1983, costing £22.3 million.

South Woodford to Barking Relief Road
The section of the North Circular south of Charlie Brown's Roundabout in South Woodford is the "South Woodford to Barking Relief Road". Prior to its opening, the signposted North Circular route from the Waterworks Roundabout to the Woolwich Ferry was on local roads via Whipps Cross, Wanstead, Manor Park and Beckton. As well as delays for the ferry, traffic could also be held due to closure of bridges in the Royal Albert and King George V Docks. The road was originally planned to be a continuation of the M11, but the standard of road was decreased to a basic dual carriageway. It was proposed to be built in the 1980s concurrently with the controversial M11 link road.

Henlys Corner and Bounds Green improvements
The North Circular Road ceased to be a trunk road in 2000, when control of all roads inside Greater London passed to Transport for London (TfL). In 2004, Mayor of London Ken Livingstone promised limited improvements to the road, but received criticism for not approving earlier plans for widening the often heavily congested road at critical sections. In 2009, it was announced that major works between the Bounds Green Road and Green Lanes junctions would finally go ahead, having been proposed for over 90 years, and was completed the following year. The work improved the carriageway between these junctions, widening Telford Road to two lanes and improving all of the junctions along the route. Improvements were also made to walkways and cycle paths along this route. However, unlike elsewhere on the North Circular, the new junctions are not grade-separated and have been designed with environmental concerns in mind. The opened scheme is a reduced specification from 1960s plans, which projected this section of the North Circular to be dual carriageway.

In April 2011, after many years of proposals and delays, construction began on a major upgrade of the Henlys Corner interchange. An underpass was originally proposed but this was heavily criticised by local residents, and would have been very costly, and it was subsequently scrapped. The upgrade scheme improved on the current junction by adding extra lanes and allowing easier left and right turns, speeding up queue times. Cycle paths and safer pedestrian crossings were included.

In July 2013, a task force set up by the Mayor of London Boris Johnson proposed that long sections of the North Circular (as well as the South Circular) should be put underground in road tunnels, freeing up space on the surface to provide public space, extensive cycle routes, and better links to existing communities currently severed by the road. Caroline Pidgeon, deputy chair of the London Assembly's Transport Committee, responded, "It doesn't make sense and it won't add up – [there's a] £30bn estimate, but I'm sure it'll cost at least double that, and the reality is we'll lose homes around these roads and so on."

Environment and safety
The North Circular Road has received regular criticism over its poor safety record and piecemeal improvement schemes due to a lack of funding since it opened to traffic. In 1989, Michael Portillo, then a Member of Parliament for Enfield Southgate, complained that 367 houses were scheduled for demolition as part of improvements to the North Circular in his constituency. Friends of the Earth have complained about rising costs and delays to junction and safety improvements. In 2003, environment cabinet member Terry Neville said that TfL's proposed improvements for improving the North Circular were "a sham" and that the local council wanted a six-lane motorway to properly solve congestion.

The uncertainty over the future of the North Circular Road has blighted properties on and near it, particularly around Bounds Green. Around 1972, approximately 400 homes on the road were compulsorily purchased by the Greater London Council in conjunction with widening schemes that were then cancelled. The properties have suffered from a lack of long-term care. Since TfL took responsibility for the road, land for future schemes has been left dormant, resulting in urban decay with derelict properties. Compulsorily purchased properties were let out to various short-term tenants, which led to them housing prostitutes and migrant workers living in increasing squalor. Pedestrians have become too frightened to use underpasses along the road, particularly to access North Middlesex Hospital. Areas close to the road, such as the alleys behind properties on the Telford Road section, have suffered from fly tipping and anti-social behaviour.

In 2011, Enfield Borough Council proposed a North Circular Area Action Plan, which would regenerate the area immediately around Telford Road and Bowes Road, and encourage growth. This includes new pedestrian crossings and improved access to existing open spaces, including Arnos Park and Broomfield Park.

In 2002, the North Circular was rated as Britain's noisiest road by the UK Noise Association. In 2013, the road was named in a BBC report as being the most polluted in London, including the highest surveyed levels of benzene and nitrogen dioxide. A report in the Sunday Times, referring to the North Circular, said "if you want to pull back the lid of your convertible and drink in the fresh air, look elsewhere". In 2019, a BBC News report said that the section between Chiswick and Hanger Lane was the most congested in Britain.

Junctions
The North Circular Road has a wide variety of styles and standards of junctions connecting to other roads. These range from the complex, grade-separated design at Charlie Brown's near Woodford, to at-grade junctions with traffic lights. The original road contained entirely at-grade junctions; many of these were improved and grade separated during the late 1970s and early 1980s.

Public transport
There are four bus routes that largely serve their routes on the North Circular Road:
 * London Buses route 34: between Arnos Grove and South Chingford (Crooked Billet Roundabout)
 * London Buses route 112: between North Ealing tube station and Finchley (Great North Road), serving Brent Cross Shopping Centre
 * London Buses route 232: between Brent Park and Palmers Green (Green Lanes), serving Brent Cross Shopping Centre
 * London Buses route SL1: between Arnos Grove and South Chingford (Crooked Billet Roundabout)

Cultural references
The North Circular Road is mentioned in the poet Louis MacNeice's 1938 piece, Autumn Journal. In it, he describes the features along the road, including factories, prefabricated buildings, bungalows and petrol pumps "like intransigent gangs of idols". Keith Moon played his first gig with The Who at a pub on the North Circular Road on 2 May 1964.

The original Ace Cafe was on the North Circular Road. Open 24 hours a day, it catered for late-night party-goers and boy racers. It was a popular place for cars to be hot-wired and stolen, as drivers knew they could make a quick getaway. IWG founder Mark Dixon's first business on returning to Britain after an extended time abroad was a hot-dog stand on the North Circular Road, making his own buns. He grew the business into a full-time bakery which he sold in 1989 for £800,000 (now £).

title: North Circular Road


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North Circular Road (disambiguation)

North Circular Road is a 25.7-mile-long ring road around Central London in London, England.

North Circular Road may also refer to:

 * North Circular Road (film), a 2015 Irish film

 * North Circular Road, Dublin
 * North Circular Road, Limerick
 * A55 road (Northern Ireland)

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: North Circular Road (disambiguation)


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President of the European Council

The president of the European Council is the person presiding over and driving forward the work of the European Council on the world stage. This institution comprises the college of heads of state or government of EU member states as well as the president of the European Commission, and provides political direction to the European Union (EU).

From 1975 to 2009, the chair of the European Council was an unofficial position (often referred to as the president-in-office) held by the head of state or government of the member state holding the semiannually rotating presidency of the Council of the European Union at any given time. However, since the 2007 Treaty of Lisbon, article 15 of Treaty on European Union states that the European Council appoints a full-time President for a two-and-a-half-year term, with the possibility of renewal once. Appointments, as well as the removal of incumbents, require a double majority support in the European Council.

On 19 November 2009, the European Council agreed that its first President under the Lisbon Treaty would be Herman Van Rompuy (European People's Party), until then the Belgian Prime Minister. Van Rompuy took office when the Lisbon Treaty came into force on 1 December 2009 with a term stretching until 31 May 2012. His term was later extended with a second period ending on 30 November 2014.

The second holder of the office was (until then) Polish prime minister Donald Tusk. He was originally elected to serve a term from 1 December 2014 to 31 May 2017, and was subsequently re-elected on 9 March 2017 to a second term running from 1 June 2017 until 30 November 2019.

On 2 July 2019 the European Council elected the until then Belgian prime minister Charles Michel as the successor to Donald Tusk as President of the European Council for the period from 1 December 2019 to 31 May 2022. He was re-elected in March 2022 for a second term for period from 1 June 2022 to 30 November 2024.

History
The first meeting of all European Communities heads of state or government was held in 1961 as an informal summit, but only became formalised in 1974, when it was dubbed "European Council" by the then French president Valéry Giscard d'Estaing. With the establishment of the European Union in 1993, the presidency of the European Council was based on the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, being hosted by the member state holding the Council presidency, rotating every six months. As the European Council is composed of national leaders, it was chaired by the head of state or government of the presidency state.

Permanent post
The European Constitution, drafted by the European Convention, outlined the "president of the European Council" as a longer term and full-time chairmanship. The Constitution was rejected by voters in two Member States during ratification but the changes envisaged to the European Council presidency were retained in the Treaty of Lisbon, which came into force on 1 December 2009.

The first president was expected to define the role for future office holders, as there was no clear idea of how the post would evolve. One body of thought was that the president would stick to a quasi-administrative role, a standard bearer who would simply chair meetings and ensure the smooth running of the body and its policies. This would attract semi-retired leaders seeking a fitting climax to their career and would leave most work to the Commission rather than wield power within the institutions. However another opinion envisaged a more pro-active President within the Union and speaking for it abroad. The office would hence be quickly fashioned, according to promoters, into a de facto "president of Europe" and, unlike the first model, would be seen on the world stage as speaking for the EU. Persons connected to this position would be more charismatic leaders. The appointment of Herman Van Rompuy indicated a desire to see the former style of president.

There were in any case a number of practical reasons for having the new style President The previous rotating presidency meant a new chair every second or third meeting. There was no choice as to who it would be. Incumbants had little time to devote to preparing meetings, as they had a national government to run (a growing problem as the number of members to negotiate with expanded with EU enlargemnt). And when representing the EU externally at G7 or G20 summits, they were often simultaneously representing their own country. Allowing the European Council to choose a full time, longer-term President who was not simultaneously a national head of government avoided these problems.

The Treaty of Lisbon does not define a nomination process for the president of the Council and initially several official and unofficial candidates were proposed. At the final European Council meeting on the treaty in Lisbon, on 19 November 2007, French president Nicolas Sarkozy set off public speculation on candidates by naming Tony Blair, Felipe González and Jean-Claude Juncker, and praising the three as worthy candidates with Blair in particular being a long time front runner for the post. However, he faced large scale opposition for being from a large state outside the eurozone and the Schengen Area as well as being a leader who entered the Iraq War which had split Europe. Minor opposition to other leaders such as Juncker also led to their rejection.

First full-time president
On 19 November 2009, Herman Van Rompuy, at that time Prime Minister of Belgium, was appointed the first full-time president of the European Council. The formal decision on the appointment was made after the Treaty of Lisbon came into force on 1 December 2009. The British prime minister, Gordon Brown, said that he had unanimous backing from the 27 EU leaders at the summit in Brussels on the evening of 19 November 2009. Brown praised Van Rompuy as "a consensus builder" who had "brought a period of political stability to his country after months of uncertainty". At a press conference after his appointment, Van Rompuy commented: "Every country should emerge victorious from negotiations. A negotiation that ends with a defeated party is never a good negotiation. I will consider everyone's interests and sensitivities. Even if our unity remains our strength, our diversity remains our wealth", he said, stressing the individuality of EU member states.

Van Rompuy's first council meeting was an informal gathering in the Solvay Library in Leopold Park, rather than the more usual formal gathering in the Justus Lipsius building nearby. The meeting was called to reflect on long term structural economic problems facing Europe, but was overtaken by the Greek economic crisis.

Pre-2009
The role of President-in-Office of the assembled European Council was performed by the head of state or government of the member state currently holding the presidency of the Council of the European Union. This presidency rotated every six months, meaning there was a new president of the European Council twice a year.

The role as President-in-Office was merely a primus inter pares role among other European heads of state or government. However, the president-in-office represented the European Council externally and reported to the European Parliament after its meetings as well as at the beginning and at the end of the presidency.

Post-2009
The president's role is largely political, preparing the work of the European Council, organising and chairing its meetings, seeking to find consensus among its members and reporting to the European Parliament after each meeting; the president will also "at his level and in that capacity, ensure the external representation of the Union on issues concerning its common foreign and security policy, without prejudice to the powers of the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security". Some overlap between the roles of the president of the European Council, the President of the Commission, and the High Representative—notably in foreign policy—leaves uncertainty about how much influence the President of the European Council will acquire. There is further concern over whether the president will have sufficient personnel and resources to fulfil the duties of the post effectively and that, in lacking a ministry, the president might become a "play ball" between EU leaders.

With the reorganisation of leading EU posts under the Lisbon Treaty, there was some criticism of each post's vague responsibilities. Ukrainian ambassador to the EU Andriy Veselovsky praised the framework and clarified it in his own terms: The president of the European Commission speaks as the EU's "government" while the new president of the European Council is a "strategist". The High Representative specialises in "bilateral relations" while the European Commissioner for Enlargement and European Neighbourhood Policy deals in technical matters such as the free trade agreement with Ukraine. The president of the European Parliament meanwhile articulates the EU's values.

The European Council president also extended his influence into financial policy, the most important area left to the rotating Council presidency, with the rotating presidency seeing a greater decrease in power than previously planned. Many of the changes introduced with the Lisbon Treaty need concretion through practical implementation by the current actors. The Spanish presidency unsuccessfully tried to challenge the European Council president's prominent post during the first rotating presidency of 2010, while the second half of the year saw a Belgian rotating presidency marked by a weakened caretaker government which did not challenge Herman van Rompuy, himself a Belgian politician. The Belgian rotating presidency announced it was taking a "backrow seat" with regards to both the European Council president and the high representative, thus fuelling hopes as well as concerns for a more communitarian character in both the council and foreign policy.

Privileges of office
Formal negotiations on the salary and privileges of the permanent presidency began in April 2008 as part of the draft of the 2009 EU budget. The outcome was that the president should enjoy the same conditions as the president of the Commission, with a basic salary of 138% of the highest civil service grade: that would be €24,874.62 per month (not including family and other allowances).

The president receives a chauffeured car and around 20 dedicated staff members. He also has a housing allowance, rather than an official residence which was considered "too symbolic". Likewise, the idea of a private jet was also rejected for being symbolic and, as one diplomat pointed out, a discrepancy in privileges between the European Council and Commission presidents may only fuel rivalry between the two.

The possibility of there being greater perks for the European Council president than Commission president prompted Parliament to threaten a rejection of the 2009 budget. It saw a large salary and extras as a symbolic signal that the post is intended to become more powerful, increasing intergovernmentalism at the Parliament's expense. With some in the Council suggesting a staff of up to 60, one MEP has argued in 2008 that the Committee on Constitutional Affairs ought to drop the gentlemen's agreement that Parliament and Council will not interfere in each other's budget.

President's office
Although the European Council is, under the terms of the Lisbon treaty, a separate institution of the EU, it does not have its own administration. The administrative support for both the European Council and its President is provided by the General Secretariat of the Council of the European Union. The president does have, however, his own private office (cabinet) of close advisers. Van Rompuy chose as his first chief of staff (chef de cabinet) Baron Frans van Daele, formerly Belgian ambassador to, variously, the US, the UN, the EU and NATO and chief of staff of several Belgian foreign ministers. Upon his retirement in the autumn of 2012, Didier Seeuws, former Deputy Perm Rep of Belgium to the EU and former spokesman for Belgian PM Verhofstadt, replaced him. Also in his team were the former UK Labour MEP Richard Corbett and Van Rompuy's long standing press officer Dirk De Backer.

Election
The President of the European Council is elected by its members through a reinforced qualified majority vote for a once-renewable term of two and a half years. Article 15 of the Treaty on European Union (TEU) identifies his duties. It is the Heads of State or Government who vote for this office.

The lack of accountability to MEPs or national parliamentarians has also cast doubt as to whether national leaders will in practice stand behind the president on major issues. Under the rotational system, the presidents simply had the mandate of their member states, while the new permanent president is chosen by the members of the European Council.

There have been calls by some, such as former German interior minister and former head of the Bundestag Wolfgang Schäuble, for direct elections to take place to give the President a mandate, this would strengthen the post within the European Council allowing for stronger leadership in addition to addressing the question of democratic legitimacy in the EU. However, this might cause conflict with Parliament's democratic mandate or a potential mandate for the Commission (see section below). To give a mandate to the European Council's president would signify a development of the Union's governance towards a presidential system, rather than a parliamentary system.

Relationship with Commission
There had been disagreement and concern over competition between the former president of the European Council Van Rompuy and the former Commission president Barroso, due to the vague language of the treaty. Some clarifications saw Van Rompuy as the "strategist" and Barroso as a head of government. In terms of economic policy, Van Rompuy saw the European Council as dealing with overall strategy and the Commission as dealing with the implementation. Despite weekly breakfasts together, there was a certain extent of rivalry between the two yet-defined posts.

Although the president of the European Council may not hold a national office, such as a prime minister of a member state, there is no such restraint on European offices. For example, the president may be an MEP, or more significantly the Commission president (who already sits in the European Council). This would allow the European Council to concurrently appoint one person to the roles and powers of both president of the European Council and president of the European Commission, thus creating a single presidential position for the union as a whole.

Since the creation of the European Council presidency, former president Van Rompuy and former Commission President Barroso had begun to compete with each other as Van Rompuy had benefited from the general shift in power from the Commission to the European Council yet with Barroso still holding the real powers. At international summits they continued previous practice of both going at the same time. The complicated situation had renewed some calls to merge the posts, possibly at the end of Barroso's term in 2014. However some member states had expected to oppose the creation of such a high-profile post.

If the posts are not to be combined, some believe that the dual-presidential system could lead to "cohabitation" and infighting between the two offices. While it is comparable to the French model, where there is a president (the European Council president) and prime minister (the Commission president), the Council president does not hold formal powers such as the ability to directly appoint and sack the Commission president, or the ability to dissolve Parliament. The European Council president has prestige, but lacks power. The Commission president has power, but lacks the prestige of the European Council president. Some believe this problem would be increased further if the Council president were to be strengthened by a democratic mandate, as mentioned above.

title: President of the European Council


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Talk:President of the European Council

Candidates for 2009
Is this section anything other than reportage of speculation. No formal announcements of candidacy yet, nor even ratification that the job will exist in that format. Kevin McE (talk) 08:41, 14 December 2007 (UTC)
 * I think its important to mention the names that are coming up (and Blair was formally supported/proposed by Sarkozy making it more than just speculation) as earlier it is mentioned that the type of person will determine what the Presidents power and influence would be like in the future.- J Logan t: 10:47, 15 December 2007 (UTC)

 * The picture of Anders Fogh looks horrid. There are many open-source pictures of him that are better, but I dont know how to edit wikipedia this way. Could someone replace the picture?

-Alexander

http://images.google.com/images?client=opera&rls=en&q=anders+fogh+rasmussen&sourceid=opera&ie=UTF-8&oe=utf-8&um=1&sa=N&tab=wi —Preceding unsigned comment added by 87.48.185.54 (talk) 16:02, 29 March 2008 (UTC)

Images
I'm not sure about having three images there, we have those three but there are four mentioned and no doubt more to come. Blair is the frontrunner, we might as well just show him as otherwise it will be biased or turn into a gallery.- J Logan t: 12:02, 30 January 2008 (UTC)
 * The three currently displayed are the three mentioned most often by far, from what I've read in news articles. Some Scandinavians have been mentioned too, but not as much IMO. Of course the Blair-Sarkozy thing has been covered most by the english-language media, but I think we should keep these three until more new more-or-less candidates are actively spoken of. The current caption contains the words among others. - $\mathrm{S}$ $\mathrm{Solberg}$ $\mathrm{J}$ 15:17, 30 January 2008 (UTC)
 * Fair enough, but if we get to the stage where we have official candidates then we should default to just those figures I reckon.- J Logan t: 16:02, 30 January 2008 (UTC)
 * Of course. - $\mathrm{S}$ $\mathrm{Solberg}$ $\mathrm{J}$ 16:06, 30 January 2008 (UTC)

Less candidate-partisan coverage
In covering the candidates, I found the page to be too Blair-centred. This probably originates in a similarly Blair-centred British media. I tried to correct that a bit, citing some French, German, Austrian and Hungarian sources. However, as I also added further bits of information on the interpretation and chances of the Blair candidacy, and didn't attempt to write a full subsection on Juncker, the balance is still sqewered. Anyone with a good access to French and German media willing to take that up? 193.68.41.17 (talk) 15:09, 14 February 2008 (UTC)
 * I agree there is too much on Blair, but it is hard finding the sources - it isn't all UK press though. Thanks for the further information though, I wish they would come up with more data on the others soon though. In everything I've managed to find (not just UK press) its all Blair Blair Blair.
 * On your change to the infobox though, the European Council President is a person, based on the country system in the Council of Ministers. So it is correct to write the president not the state.- J Logan t: 10:27, 16 February 2008 (UTC)

 * On Blair in the media, I think that "all Blair Blair Blair" is a media campaign of his supporters, not a reflection of discussions in the Council (where the President will be decided). In particular, the Independent article on which much of the Blair section seemed to be based (reference #12) has it even in the title.
 * However, today I will put together a Juncker section, branching off the paragraph on him and citing a few more sources, to which I will add Merkel's expected implicit endorsement tomorrow.
 * One more section that may be worth fleshing out is the implications of power balance, e.g. the representation of small vs. large states, left vs. right, North vs. South, East vs. West, when considering all four top jobs in the EU.193.68.41.17 (talk) 12:54, 18 February 2008 (UTC)

 * I now added that major edit (and also registered). Also added beyond the Juncker section: a sentence on the lack of a prescribed nomination process and Sarko kicking off the speculation. Of the changes to the old text, I consider one significant: the old version said that in October 2007, Sarkozy reiterated his "support" for Blair. What Sarkozy said was indeed reported thusly in a number of newspapers, and not only British. However, other newspapers I checked (above all French ones) spoke of a double endorsement, and I found the official transscript that reinforces the latter version.

 * There is one further source that I think is worth adding, but I'm not sure how and exactly where. |This op-ed in the Wall Street Journal would both underline the point of Blair advocates that he is recognised abroad, and evidence a dismissal of Juncker on the same term ("tiny Luxembourg").Rontombontom (talk) 08:24, 19 February 2008 (UTC)

 * Thanks for your additions, great work. Yes a section in representation would be good, in the above sections as the candidates bit is not getting very long. Wish they'd hurry up and decide a few things about this post so we have some hard material to write on. Had internet troubles of late and now I have some catching up to do but I'll help out on that soon.- J Logan t: 12:50, 19 February 2008 (UTC)

 * About the representation section, maybe later this week, today I only plan to update the sentence on Merkel's laudation of Juncker this morning. I may also think about how to shorten the candidates section... I didn't plan it to be this long when I began writing & assembling sources :-)Rontombontom (talk) 14:22, 19 February 2008 (UTC)

Intergov vs Federalist, Presidential vs Parliamentary
JLogan, you wrote when removing one sentence, Line on school of thought - I'd disagree, it is also supported by intergovs - so he is controlled by the leaders in the Council rather than the other way around. Could you expand on that? Because I can't parse this short sentence: e.g. what is the 'it' the integovs support too (strong Commission? democratic legitimation vested in the Parliament?); and did my sentence read as if saying that the President would control the Council?Rontombontom (talk) 14:22, 19 February 2008 (UTC)

 * The line "This school of thought desires European power to be concentrated in a Commission controlled by the democratically elected Parliament." makes it sound like the idea of a weak President is desirable by those wanting a strong supranational structure and opposed by those wanting a stronger intergovernmental counterweight. Where as a weak President is also desirable by those who wish to avoid a President who would dominate the leaders in the European Council, as a weak President would follow the instructions given by the leaders and just arrange meetings etc rather than upstage them with his influence. Ergo, it seems misleading.- J Logan t: 11:21, 21 February 2008 (UTC)

 * OK, fair point, we are talking of two orthogonal differences with four possible opinions. However, both the present version and my unfortunate edit represents only two of those. I shall think about a good re-wording.Rontombontom (talk) 20:00, 21 February 2008 (UTC)

 * Okay, having thought about it, here is my take. Before I attempt any re-write, I lay out my thoughts for your comments.

 * I see these four opinions, all of which I attempt to present in a way hopefully agreeable to their champions:
 * 1. Only national governments have a real democratic mandate, the EU should be intergovernmental, so the Council should be strong and all the EU officers shall remain weak, including a Council President (this is held by the less vehement Eurosceptics, and some intergov Europhiles)
 * 2. The EU is best run intergovernmentally via the European Council, but for more efficient work, higher recognition among citizens and abroad, the President should be at least symbolically powerful (more intergov Europhiles, I think this is how the original proponents among the heads of states thought in 2003-4)
 * 3. The EU should become more federal, with increased powers for the EP and accountability for the Commission while the Council shall behave more like an upper house (with the Bundesrat of Germany as best analogy), so its President shall practice a chairman and negotiating job rather than one analogous to a head of state (the view of parliamentarian Europhiles)
 * 4. The EU should become more federal, with reduced possibilities for stasis and blocking of the EP and Commission due to bickering and national selfishness emanating from the European Council, thus a stronger Council President with real powers is needed as federal counterbalance to the national governments, as well as being the "Mr. Europe" in the Kissingerian/American sense, best with democratic mandate (the view of presidential Europhiles)

 * As I see it, the actual job description in the Treaty of Lisbon is a compromise between all four (but primarily 3 and 2). Now, the first paragraph of our First President section doesn't clearly separate 2 and 4, and seems to present 3 through the glasses of 4. In particular, "attract semi-retired leaders" implies a do-nothing job for politicians beyond their prime. Whereas, on one hand, 'retirement into the EU' is a phenomenon affecting all top EU jobs, including more active ones, and also a more active Council President; and on the other hand, the parliamentarian federalists do not see negotiation as an unimportant task, but an important one for which the qualification is years of experience in the Council, e.g. being an elder statesman (something indeed fitting all the discussed candidates we listed, from Blair to Schüssel, expect Merkel). Furthermore, that "rather than wield power within the institutions" at the end of the paragraph, while technically correct, in itself can be read as opposing a federal check on the Council (opinion 1), hence I felt the necessity to mention the opinion that the check be the EP and the Commission (according to opinion 3).

 * If this is fleshed out, at least part of it may be better placed in the previous section, Duties and powers. (The one or two paragraphs on the power balance I plan will go into the Election section.) What do you think? Rontombontom (talk) 11:18, 22 February 2008 (UTC)

 * That's all well and good but I think this is a tad OR, do we have an academic journal talking about this? We can't chat about our own assumptions and guesswork.- J Logan t: 17:07, 22 February 2008 (UTC)

Reverted
Animum, why have you immediately reverted my edit?89.148.90.179 (talk) 00:19, 19 February 2008 (UTC)
 * Really sorry, I just got a bit too hasty on RC patrol. Apologies, —Animum (talk) 00:25, 19 February 2008 (UTC)
 * Thanks for the restore! I shall at last register to avoid being mistaken for a spammer.89.148.90.179 (talk) 06:39, 19 February 2008 (UTC)

Gallery
Why do we now have an image gallery of the candidates? Don't you think this is going over the top, it really doesn't help much and one is just a place holder anyway. One or two is one thing, but now we have loads of images of names that have been mentioned in passing by the press. We don't need any of them really.- J Logan t: 13:57, 31 March 2008 (UTC)
 * I added the five uppermost (one horisontal line, choosing those with similar aspect ratio and IMO good image quality), and I still think there should be images of more candidates that just Blair and Jancker. But ten images is over the top. Especially, we shouldn't try to make it an official gallery that includes every politician ever mentioned. At least Mary Robinson shouldn't be there if we haven't got an image of her. - $\mathrm{S}$ $\mathrm{Solberg}$ $\mathrm{J}$ 14:49, 31 March 2008 (UTC)

Bertie Ahern
Ahern may indeed have economic, political, and diplomatic experience and a great reputation. But what's it have to do with this position? Understand that the article needs sources which state "because of his experience... Ahern is a likely candidate." There are sources that say this, but the section would need to be written differently. What the anonymous IP address has tried to do is what I would consider advertising, which is not what this article should be about. Personal, I would love to support a fellow Irishman, but lets not let this article devolve into the taking of any political sides.--Patrick Ѻ 18:07, 5 May 2008 (UTC)

Neither of the links given to support the claim that Bertie Ahern helped double Ireland's economic output contain the words "Bertie" "Ahern" or "Taoiseach", the merely report the expansion of the Irish economy over the time period. This is a spurious connection at best. A far better source for the same data would be the OECD website, or the IMF, or the ESRI.

Thankfully, there is some counter-balance to the over-zealous flattery engaged in by the author(s), but the section remains too long and wordy. Some sections of the CV should be deleted (foot & mouth perhaps?). —Preceding unsigned comment added by Xerxesy (talk • contribs) 10:18, 24 May 2008 (UTC)

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Date and term length in infobox
Should the supposed details of the future presidency be removed from the infobox per WP:CRYSTAL until such time as the Treaty of Lisbon comes into effect (or is at least ratified by all members)? In the text, it is possible to explain that we are talking about the Treaty of Lisbon, but the infobox gives the wrong impression.--Boson (talk) 06:36, 12 May 2009 (UTC)

Copied text?
''Van Rompuy has served as Belgium's premier for less than a year but has earned a reputation as a consensus-builder. He emphasized that quality in his acceptance speech tonight.'' This looks like a news article. Was it copied from somewhere? It certainly doesn't look encyclopedic. --CodeGeneratR (talk) 07:01, 20 November 2009 (UTC)
 * I do not find this instance any more - seems to be fixed. T om ea s y T C 09:45, 21 November 2009 (UTC)

List
Only one person. Don't you think it looks a bit pathetic to start a list already?- J.Logan`t : 10:12, 20 November 2009 (UTC)
 * Absolutely. T om ea s y T C 09:44, 21 November 2009 (UTC)

Rompuy takes office on 1 December or 1 January
I am not sure about this. Lisbon Treaty takes effect as of 1 December. But what about the newly designated posts. Won't they take office just when the new year starts? Who will preside the last European Council this year in Brussels? T om ea s y T C 09:43, 21 November 2009 (UTC)

 * Swedish Presidency:
 * Forms of cooperation discussed

The Secretary-General and the permanent President will take up their respective posts on 1 December, when the Treaty of Lisbon enters into force. In practice, this would mean that the last EU summit during the Swedish EU Presidency, taking place on 10–11 December, would have two Presidents. But at the EU summit in December last year, it was agreed that the new President would not preside over the European Council’s meetings until after the conclusion of the Swedish EU Presidency. The task of designing the format for the cooperation between the rotating Presidency’s head of state or government and the permanent President, thereby falls on the Spanish Presidency. This very cooperation is something that will be discussed at the dinner table tonight. It is important to quickly establish functioning working procedures between the rotating Presidency and the permanent President of the European Council under the Treaty of Lisbon.
 * - SSJ ☎ 19:42, 23 November 2009 (UTC)

 * Thanks. T om ea s y T C 20:23, 23 November 2009 (UTC)
 * The official press release issued today, December 1st, by the EU, on the "implementation of the Treaty of Lisbon", announces that the European Council has met, and has formalized Mr. Van Rompuy's appointment as President, effective immediately. A press release was issued by the European Council reporting on the meeting and it is clearly stated that Mr. Van Rompuy's term as President starts today: http://www.consilium.europa.eu/uedocs/cms_data/docs/pressdata/en/ec/111607.pdf.

It is clearly stated that the European Council decided "To elect Mr Herman Van Rompuy as President of the European Council for the period from 1 December 2009 until 31 May 2012".--201.33.30.202 (talk) 18:14, 1 December 2009 (UTC)

Permanent Vs Rotation Presidency
Anyone knows how the permanent president is going to work with the rotation presidency? Are they going to be merged together or will have 2 different roles? Maybe some lines to clarify this will help!--Melitikus (talk) 11:57, 23 November 2009 (UTC)
 * One presidency presides the Council of the European Union (also called Council of Ministers), while the other one presides the European Council. Did this help? T om ea s y T C 12:40, 23 November 2009 (UTC)

Yes - but who will do what?

Premanent President = European Council:: Rotation President = European Union Council (Council of Ministers)

right?

the words are so similar that it is easy to confuse them Council of Ministers and Council of Prime(Chief) Ministers would be more clear - though not all the leaders are called prime ministers--Melitikus (talk) 16:44, 23 November 2009 (UTC)

 * Whatever. You got it right. T om ea s y T C 18:14, 23 November 2009 (UTC)

Source
Source for budgeted 2010 expenditure for the Office of the President (which includes, but does not separate out, the salary of the President) is here:

 * AMENDING LETTER No 3 TO THE PRELIMINARY DRAFT BUDGET 2010 - STATEMENT OF EXPENDITURE BY SECTION - Section II - Council

Maybe somebody with more time than me can fit it into the article. Regards, Anameofmyveryown (talk) 01:37, 11 March 2010 (UTC)

Source found I found the little insinuation about France's involvement in rejecting Juncker so sexy, (at the end of the paragraph about who was envisaged to be the next president) that I decided to dig up the source. Here it is (an interview with Wilfried Martens, president of EPP), I hope someone can insert it: http://www.nrc.nl/international/europe/article2477047.ece/Martens_Sarkozy_blocked_Juncker_as_EU_president

regards, Axel

Weasel words/bias?
Under "Duties and powers", the first paragraph reads: "The presidency set agenda of the meetings, a competence that was misused to push national interests."

Aside from being grammatically questionable, it doesn't seem to be NPOV. The sources appear to be simple descriptions of the office of president and don't seem to support the claim that the powers of the presidency pre-2009 were regularly abused for national self-interest. This sentence seem fishy to anyone else?

AngryHatter (talk) 16:48, 20 February 2014 (UTC)

 * Agreed!! — Blue-Haired Lawyer t 17:45, 20 February 2014 (UTC)

URGENT need for updating!
This article urgently need updating, now that there is a new President in place. 62.60.23.66 (talk) 11:07, 11 December 2014 (UTC)

Bias in reporting
Those who are determined to eliminate national democracy, also known as EU-supporters, deliberately and wrongly refer to this job as "president of the European Union" in order to try and legitimize the undemocratic EU and its unelected politicians. It should mention in paragraph one that this is basically a confidence trick in line with referring to the undemocratic EU as "Europe". — Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.132.21.52 (talk) 15:10, 31 January 2017 (UTC)

title: Talk:President of the European Council


text:
Liquefied petroleum gas

Liquefied petroleum gas, also referred to as liquid petroleum gas (LPG or LP gas), is a fuel gas which contains a flammable mixture of hydrocarbon gases, specifically propane, n-butane and isobutane. It can sometimes contain some propylene, butylene, and isobutene.

LPG is used as a fuel gas in heating appliances, cooking equipment, and vehicles. It is increasingly used as an aerosol propellant and a refrigerant, replacing chlorofluorocarbons in an effort to reduce damage to the ozone layer. When specifically used as a vehicle fuel, it is often referred to as autogas or even just as gas.

Varieties of LPG that are bought and sold include mixes that are mostly propane, mostly butane , and, most commonly, mixes including both propane and butane. In the northern hemisphere winter, the mixes contain more propane, while in summer, they contain more butane. In the United States, mainly two grades of LPG are sold: commercial propane and HD-5. These specifications are published by the Gas Processors Association (GPA) and the American Society of Testing and Materials. Propane/butane blends are also listed in these specifications.

Propylene, butylenes and various other hydrocarbons are usually also present in small concentrations such as C2H6, CH4, and C3H8. HD-5 limits the amount of propylene that can be placed in LPG to 5% and is utilized as an autogas specification. A powerful odorant, ethanethiol, is added so that leaks can be detected easily. The internationally recognized European Standard is EN 589. In the United States, tetrahydrothiophene (thiophane) or amyl mercaptan are also approved odorants, although neither is currently being utilized.

LPG is prepared by refining petroleum or "wet" natural gas, and is almost entirely derived from fossil fuel sources, being manufactured during the refining of petroleum (crude oil), or extracted from petroleum or natural gas streams as they emerge from the ground. It was first produced in 1910 by Walter O. Snelling, and the first commercial products appeared in 1912. It currently provides about 3% of all energy consumed, and burns relatively cleanly with no soot and very little sulfur emission. As it is a gas, it does not pose ground or water pollution hazards, but it can cause air pollution. LPG has a typical specific calorific value of 46.1 MJ/kg compared with 42.5 MJ/kg for fuel oil and 43.5 MJ/kg for premium grade petrol (gasoline). However, its energy density per volume unit of 26 MJ/L is lower than either that of petrol or fuel oil, as its relative density is lower (about 0.5–0.58 kg/L, compared to 0.71–0.77 kg/L for gasoline). As the density and vapor pressure of LPG (or its components) change significantly with temperature, this fact must be considered every time when the application is connected with safety or custody transfer operations, e.g. typical cuttoff level option for LPG reservoir is 85%.

Besides its use as an energy carrier, LPG is also a promising feedstock in the chemical industry for the synthesis of olefins such as ethylene, propylene,

As its boiling point is below room temperature, LPG will evaporate quickly at normal temperatures and pressures and is usually supplied in pressurized steel vessels. They are typically filled to 80–85% of their capacity to allow for thermal expansion of the contained liquid. The ratio of the densities of the liquid and vapor varies depending on composition, pressure, and temperature, but is typically around 250:1. The pressure at which LPG becomes liquid, called its vapour pressure, likewise varies depending on composition and temperature; for example, it is approximately 220 kPa for pure butane at 20 °C, and approximately 2200 kPa for pure propane at 55 °C. LPG in its gaseous phase is still heavier than air, unlike natural gas, and thus will flow along floors and tend to settle in low spots, such as basements. There are two main dangers to this. The first is a possible explosion if the mixture of LPG and air is within the explosive limits and there is an ignition source. The second is suffocation due to LPG displacing air, causing a decrease in oxygen concentration.

A full LPG gas cylinder contains 86% liquid; the ullage volume will contain vapour at a pressure that varies with temperature.

Uses
LPG has a wide variety of uses in many different markets as an efficient fuel container in the agricultural, recreation, hospitality, industrial, construction, sailing and fishing sectors. It can serve as fuel for cooking, central heating and water heating and is a particularly cost-effective and efficient way to heat off-grid homes.

Cooking
LPG is used for cooking in many countries for economic reasons, for convenience or because it is the preferred fuel source.

In India, nearly 8.9 million tons of LPG were consumed in the six months between April and September 2016 in the domestic sector, mainly for cooking. The number of domestic connections are 215 million (i.e., one connection for every six people) with a circulation of more than 350 million LPG cylinders. Most of the LPG requirement is imported. Piped city gas supply in India is not yet developed on a major scale. LPG is subsidised by the Indian government for domestic users. An increase in LPG prices has been a politically sensitive matter in India as it potentially affects the middle class voting pattern.

LPG was once a standard cooking fuel in Hong Kong; however, the continued expansion of town gas to newer buildings has reduced LPG usage to less than 24% of residential units. However, other than electric, induction, or infrared stoves, LPG-fueled stoves are the only type available in most suburban villages and many public housing estates.

LPG is the most common cooking fuel in Brazilian urban areas, being used in virtually all households, with the exception of the cities of Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo, which have a natural gas pipeline infrastructure. Since 2001, poor families receive a government grant ("Vale Gás") used exclusively for the acquisition of LPG. Since 2003, this grant is part of the government's main social welfare program ("Bolsa Família"). Also, since 2005, the national oil company Petrobras differentiates between LPG destined for cooking and LPG destined for other uses, establishing a lower price for the former. This is a result of a directive from the Brazilian federal government, but its discontinuation is currently being debated.

LPG is commonly used in North America for domestic cooking and outdoor grilling.

Rural heating
Predominantly in Europe and rural parts of many countries, LPG can provide an alternative to electric heating, heating oil, or kerosene. LPG is most often used in areas that do not have direct access to piped natural gas. In the UK about 200,000 households use LPG for heating.

LPG can be used as a power source for combined heat and power technologies (CHP). CHP is the process of generating both electrical power and useful heat from a single fuel source. This technology has allowed LPG to be used not just as fuel for heating and cooking, but also for decentralized generation of electricity. LPG can be stored in a variety of manners. LPG, as with other fossil fuels, can be combined with renewable power sources to provide greater reliability while still achieving some reduction in CO2 emissions. However, as opposed to wind and solar renewable energy sources, LPG can be used as a standalone energy source without the prohibitive expense of electrical energy storage. In many climates renewable sources such as solar and wind power would still require the construction, installation and maintenance of reliable baseload power sources such as LPG fueled generation to provide electrical power during the entire year. 100% wind/solar is possible, the caveat being that the expense of the additional generation capacity necessary to charge batteries plus the cost of battery electrical storage makes this option economically feasible in only a minority of situations.

Motor fuel

When LPG is used to fuel internal combustion engines, it is often referred to as autogas or auto propane. In some countries, it has been used since the 1940s as a petrol alternative for spark ignition engines. In some countries, there are additives in the liquid that extend engine life and the ratio of butane to propane is kept quite precise in fuel LPG. Two recent studies have examined LPG-fuel-oil fuel mixes and found that smoke emissions and fuel consumption are reduced but hydrocarbon emissions are increased. The studies were split on CO emissions, with one finding significant increases, and the other finding slight increases at low engine load but a considerable decrease at high engine load. Its advantage is that it is non-toxic, non-corrosive and free of tetraethyllead or any additives, and has a high octane rating (102–108 RON depending on local specifications). It burns more cleanly than petrol or fuel-oil and is especially free of the particulates present in the latter.

LPG has a lower energy density per liter than either petrol or fuel-oil, so the equivalent fuel consumption is higher. Many governments impose less tax on LPG than on petrol or fuel-oil, which helps offset the greater consumption of LPG than of petrol or fuel-oil. However, in many European countries, this tax break is often compensated by a much higher annual tax on cars using LPG than on cars using petrol or fuel-oil. Propane is the third most widely used motor fuel in the world. 2013 estimates are that over 24.9 million vehicles are fueled by propane gas worldwide. Over 25 million tonnes (over 9 billion US gallons) are used annually as a vehicle fuel.

Not all automobile engines are suitable for use with LPG as a fuel. LPG provides less upper cylinder lubrication than petrol or diesel, so LPG-fueled engines are more prone to valve wear if they are not suitably modified. Many modern common rail diesel engines respond well to LPG use as a supplementary fuel. This is where LPG is used as fuel as well as diesel. Systems are now available that integrate with OEM engine management systems.

Conversion kits can switch a vehicle dedicated to gasoline to using a dual system, in which both gasoline and LPG are used in the same vehicle.

In 2020, BW LPG successfully retrofitted a Very Large Gas Carrier (VLGC) with LPG propulsion technology, pioneering LPG's application in large-scale maritime operations. LPG’s lowers emissions of carbon dioxide, sulfur oxides, nitrogen oxides, and particulate matter align with stricter standards set by the International Maritime Organization (IMO), making LPG a viable transition option as the maritime industry transitions towards net zero carbon emissions.

Conversion to gasoline
LPG can be converted into alkylate which is a premium gasoline blending stock because it has exceptional anti-knock properties and gives clean burning.

Refrigeration
LPG is instrumental in providing off-the-grid refrigeration, usually by means of a gas absorption refrigerator.

Blended from pure, dry propane (refrigerant designator R-290) and isobutane (R-600a) the blend "R-290a" has negligible ozone depletion potential, very low global warming potential and can serve as a functional replacement for R-12, R-22, R-134a and other chlorofluorocarbon or hydrofluorocarbon refrigerants in conventional stationary refrigeration and air conditioning systems.

Such substitution is widely prohibited or discouraged in motor vehicle air conditioning systems, on the grounds that using flammable hydrocarbons in systems originally designed to carry non-flammable refrigerant presents a significant risk of fire or explosion.

Vendors and advocates of hydrocarbon refrigerants argue against such bans on the grounds that there have been very few such incidents relative to the number of vehicle air conditioning systems filled with hydrocarbons. One particular test, conducted by a professor at the University of New South Wales, unintentionally tested the worst-case scenario of a sudden and complete refrigerant expulsion into the passenger compartment followed by subsequent ignition. He and several others in the car sustained minor burns to their face, ears, and hands, and several observers received lacerations from the burst glass of the front passenger window. No one was seriously injured.

Global production
Global LPG production reached over 292 million metric tons per year (Mt/a) in 2015, while global LPG consumption to over 284 Mt/a. 62% of LPG is extracted from natural gas while the rest is produced by petroleum refineries from crude oil. 44% of global consumption is in the domestic sector. The U.S. is the leading producer and exporter of LPG.

Security of supply
Because of the natural gas and the oil-refining industry, Europe is almost self-sufficient in LPG. Europe's security of supply is further safeguarded by:
 * a wide range of sources, both inside and outside Europe;
 * a flexible supply chain via water, rail and road with numerous routes and entry points into Europe.

According to 2010–12 estimates, proven world reserves of natural gas, from which most LPG is derived, stand at 300 trillion cubic meters (10,600 trillion cubic feet). Production continues to grow at an average annual rate of 2.2%.

Comparison with natural gas
LPG is composed mainly of propane and butane, while natural gas is composed of the lighter methane and ethane. LPG, vaporised and at atmospheric pressure, has a higher calorific value (46 MJ/m3 equivalent to 12.8 kWh/m3) than natural gas (methane) (38 MJ/m3 equivalent to 10.6 kWh/m3), which means that LPG cannot simply be substituted for natural gas. In order to allow the use of the same burner controls and to provide for similar combustion characteristics, LPG can be mixed with air to produce a synthetic natural gas (SNG) that can be easily substituted. LPG/air mixing ratios average 60/40, though this is widely variable based on the gases making up the LPG. The method for determining the mixing ratios is by calculating the Wobbe index of the mix. Gases having the same Wobbe index are held to be interchangeable.

LPG-based SNG is used in emergency backup systems for many public, industrial and military installations, and many utilities use LPG peak shaving plants in times of high demand to make up shortages in natural gas supplied to their distributions systems. LPG-SNG installations are also used during initial gas system introductions when the distribution infrastructure is in place before gas supplies can be connected. Developing markets in India and China (among others) use LPG-SNG systems to build up customer bases prior to expanding existing natural gas systems.

LPG-based SNG or natural gas with localized storage and piping distribution network to the households for catering to each cluster of 5000 domestic consumers can be planned under the initial phase of the city gas network system. This would eliminate the last mile LPG cylinders road transport which is a cause of traffic and safety hurdles in Indian cities. These localized natural gas networks are successfully operating in Japan with feasibility to get connected to wider networks in both villages and cities.

Environmental effects
Commercially available LPG is currently derived mainly from fossil fuels. Burning LPG releases carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas. The reaction also produces some carbon monoxide. LPG does, however, release less per unit of energy than does coal or oil, but more than natural gas. It emits 81% of the per kWh produced by oil, 70% of that of coal, and less than 50% of that emitted by coal-generated electricity distributed via the grid. Being a mix of propane and butane, LPG emits less carbon per joule than butane but more carbon per joule than propane.

LPG burns more cleanly than higher molecular weight hydrocarbons because it releases less particulate matter.

As it is much less polluting than most traditional solid-fuel stoves, replacing cookstoves used in developing countries with LPG is one of the key strategies adopted to reduce household air pollution in the developing world.

Fire/explosion risk and mitigation
In a refinery or gas plant, LPG must be stored in pressure vessels. These containers are either cylindrical and horizontal (sometimes referred to as bullet tanks) or spherical (of the Horton sphere type). Typically, these vessels are designed and manufactured according to some code. In the United States, this code is governed by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME).

LPG containers have pressure relief valves, such that when subjected to exterior heating sources, they will vent LPGs to the atmosphere or a flare stack.

If a tank is subjected to a fire of sufficient duration and intensity, it can undergo a boiling liquid expanding vapor explosion (BLEVE). This is typically a concern for large refineries and petrochemical plants that maintain very large containers. In general, tanks are designed so that the product will vent faster than pressure can build to dangerous levels.

One remedy that is utilized in industrial settings is to equip such containers with a measure to provide a fire-resistance rating. Large, spherical LPG containers may have up to a 15 cm steel wall thickness. They are equipped with an approved pressure relief valve. A large fire in the vicinity of the vessel will increase its temperature and pressure. The relief valve on the top is designed to vent off excess pressure in order to prevent the rupture of the container itself. Given a fire of sufficient duration and intensity, the pressure being generated by the boiling and expanding gas can exceed the ability of the valve to vent the excess. Alternatively, if, due to continued venting, the liquid level drops below the area being heated, the tank structure can be overheated and subsequently weakened in that area. If either occurs, the container may rupture violently, launching pieces of the vessel at high velocity, while the released products can ignite as well, potentially causing catastrophic damage to anything nearby, including other containers.

People can be exposed to LPG in the workplace by breathing it in, skin contact, and eye contact. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has set the legal limit (Permissible exposure limit) for LPG exposure in the workplace as 1000 ppm (1800 mg/m3) over an 8-hour workday. The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) has set a recommended exposure limit (REL) of 1000 ppm (1800 mg/m3) over an 8-hour workday. At levels of 2000 ppm, 10% of the lower explosive limit, LPG is considered immediately dangerous to life and health (due solely to safety considerations pertaining to risk of explosion).

title: Liquefied petroleum gas