Bioheat® fuel is not only helping to reduce carbon emissions right now, but it will keep reducing emissions even more in the years ahead as it eventually evolves into B100, an all-biodiesel home heating fuel.
Bioheat fuel combines ultra-low-sulfur heating oil and renewable biodiesel. A gallon-for-gallon substitute for traditional petroleum, biodiesel is a “decarbonizing-now” solution.
Recent data have shown that the oilheat industry far surpassed its first greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction goal. Here is the background on how this came about.
Five years ago, hundreds of heating oil industry leaders set forth their clean energy goals in the Providence Resolution, a landmark commitment to voluntarily reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The resolution called for a 15% reduction in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 2023, a 40% reduction by 2030, and net-zero carbon emissions by 2050.
To figure out if the industry had hit its first goal, Dr. Tom Butcher of the National Oilheat Research Alliance (NORA) conducted a study, and his findings were nothing short of phenomenal.
The latest data showed that the industry had far surpassed its first GHG goal. Instead of achieving just 15% by 2023, the industry achieved a nearly 26% reduction in GHG emissions!
This progress toward the end goal of net-zero emissions will continue due to a number of reasons, including:
Bioheat fuel is a blend of ultra-low sulfur heating oil with renewable biodiesel that’s made from organic and recycled products. These products can range from soybean oil, used cooking oils, and inedible corn oils, to canola, tallow, fats, and algae.
These renewable products are defined as feedstocks for producing biodiesel. Blends of biodiesel in heating oil are represented in percentages. For example, a 5% blend of biodiesel is defined as B5. B10 refers to a 10% blend, while B20 is a 20% blend.
Since Bioheat fuel relies on renewable, biodegradable, nontoxic resources, our country can continually produce new supplies throughout the nation, and it is virtually free of sulfur and other impurities. Bioheat fuel already supports tens of thousands of U.S. jobs while generating billions of dollars in annual income, which gets circulated throughout the American economy.
Ultra-low sulfur Bioheat fuel burns more cleanly and more efficiently than conventional heating oil.
This is just making a good thing even better. Today’s heating equipment regularly achieves efficiency levels of 85% or higher. With the introduction of higher blends of ultra-low sulfur Bioheat fuel, we will start to see more super-high-efficiency systems available in the U.S. These systems will achieve efficiency levels of 90% or more.
Biofuel is a broad term that can include various products, including not only biodiesel but ethanol, renewable hydrocarbon diesel, and raw vegetable oil known as RVO or LR100. It’s important to note that raw vegetable oil does not meet industry specifications; it is not biodiesel or Bioheat fuel and is not suitable for home heating oil use.
Most major heating system manufacturers accept Bioheat fuel as covered under their warranties for use, and you won’t need to make any changes to your furnace, boiler, or heating oil storage tank to use it. Performance standards for Bioheat fuel have been approved by ASTM International, an organization that sets industry standards for fuels and lubricants.
Please reach out to your New Jersey heating oil company to learn more about the benefits of Bioheat fuel.