He formed Jack Roush Performance Engineering, a precursor of today’s Roush Industries, in 1976 and Roush Racing in 1988 and is today one of the premier names associated with the sport of stock car racing.

All of that tells me that Roush doesn’t get involved in business ventures that don’t offer his company a viable future – meaning the involvement of the Roush Performance arm of his company in the propane vehicle market isn’t due to some “do-gooder” impulse. He really thinks propane is going to become a popular alternative fuel in the not-so-distant future.

Right now, Roush offers several vehicle models running on liquid propane: Ford E-150 / E-250 / E-350 passenger and cargo van equipped with the 5.4L V8s plus F-150, F-250, and F-350 trucks. The E-Series vans, it should be noted, achieve Super Ultra Low Emission Vehicle II emission standards, which, on average, results in 90% cleaner emissions than the average new model year car or truck.

A bit of background first, here. Propane got listed as an approved alternative clean fuel within the 1990 Clean Air Act, followed soon thereafter as an approved alternative fuel in the Energy Policy Act of 1992.

The big reasons why propane got this designation is that it produces up to 20% less oxides of nitrogen (NOx), up to 60% less carbon monoxide, 24% fewer greenhouse gas emissions, and fewer particulate emissions when compared to gasoline. Also, 90% of the propane used today in the U.S. comes from domestic sources of production – mainly as a byproduct of natural gas and petroleum refining.

In 1996, Congress formed the Propane Education & Research Council (PERC) with the passage of Public Law 104-284, known as the Propane Education and Research Act (PERA) to promote the safe, efficient use of odorized propane gas as a preferred energy source.

Today, propane is roughly a $10 billion industry in the U.S., with the country consuming more than 15 billion gallons annually for home, agricultural, industrial, and commercial uses. It’s become one of the most common alternative fuels around the globe, powering over 13 million vehicles worldwide.

And we’re talking commercial vehicles here, too – not necessarily big rigs, but definitely medium-duty units. Take Schwan’s Home Service, for example, which operates one of the largest direct-to-home food delivery businesses in the U.S.

Today, almost 90% of Schwan’s 6,000 trucks run on propane: trucks that are also roughly 6,000 pounds lighter, resulting in increased fuel economy. The company even recently redesigned its truck fleet to capitalize on the “green” image possibilities of using propane as well.

“While our customers are sure to recognize the outside of our trucks, it is important that they know that inside there is a fuel efficient machine that is safer for our environment,” noted Scott McNair, president of The Schwan Food Company.

In fact, company founder Marvin Schwan began using propane in his trucks in the early 1970s in response to the oil embargoes. The investment made to use propane has not only been efficient and better for the environment, but also economical, as the company has saved millions of dollars since the 1970s, McNair said.

Then take Prime Time Shuttle that serves southern California. Prime Time is replacing its fleet of 200 shuttle buses with 200 liquid propane-powered Ford E-350s over the next 24 months. Today, each of its gasoline-powered shuttle vans consumes more than 7,500 gallons annually; by switching to propane, Prime Time should save more than 1.5 million gallons of gasoline each year.