In 1910, Dr. Walter O. Snelling, a chemist and explosives expert for the U.S. Bureau of Mines, was contacted to investigate vapors coming from a gasoline tank vent of a newly purchased Ford Model T. Dr. Snelling filles a glass jug with the gasoline from the Ford Model T and discovered on his way back to the lab that volatile vapors were forming in the jug, causing its cork to repeatedly pop out. He began experimenting with these vaporous gases to find methods to control and hold them. After dividing the gas into its liquid and gaseous components, he learned that propane was one component of the liquified gas mixture. He soon learned that this propane component could be used for lighting, metal cutting and cooking. That discovery marked the birth of the propane indusrty.
Propane was listed as an approved, alternative clean fuel in the 1990 Clean Air Act and two years later was listed as an alternative fuel in the Energy Policy Act of 1992.