Aircraft Manufacturer Announces First Flight Powered by 100% Algae Biofuel

Posted by Josh Garrett on July 25, 2010 at 5:49 am

The Diamond Aircraft DA42 New Generation successfully completed the world’s first flight fueled by 100 percent algae-based biofuel. (image: Diamond Aircraft via TreeHugger.com)

Biofuels of various types and various blends with petroleum fuel have powered dozens of successful flights in recent years. This week, a European aircraft manufacturer announced the first flight of a craft powered entirely by 100 percent biofuel made from algae, TreeHugger.com reported on Thursday. HeatingOil.com first covered the planned algae biofuel flight in June, and this week manufacturer EADS announced that the successful test had taken place at the Berlin Air Show. The algae-powered aircraft was a Diamond Aircraft DA42 New Generation twin-prop plane.

TreeHugger reported that the flight confirmed that biofuels are more efficient aviation fuels than traditional, petroleum-based fuels and produce fewer carbon emissions:

The DA42 used almost half a gallon less fuel per hour using the algae fuel than it would have had it been powered by kerosene-based jet fuel. What’s more, the exhaust from the plane had an eight time lower hydrocarbon content, as well as lower nitrogen and sulphur emissions.

The successful test flight of the DA42 with 100 percent algae biofuel is a good sign for the biofuels industry and, by extension, Bioheat. Algae are often referred to a one of the most promising feedstocks for biofuels like biodiesel, the fuel that can power oil heating systems. The more proven applications of algae biofuel there are, the more widely available it will become—and more algae feedstock means increased biodiesel supplies and lower biodiesel prices. From air, sea, and land transportation to home heating, the effectiveness of biofuels has been proven.

The only question now is how long until these clean-burning, renewable fuels really catch on?

Origins of Bioheat: NYC Biodiesel Producer Tri-State Biodiesel

Posted by Josh Garrett on July 19, 2010 at 6:56 am

A Tri-State Biodiesel waste oil collection truck on the job in Manhattan. (image: Nicholas Whitaker for HeatingOil.com)

It is impossible to work in the heating oil industry today and not know about biodiesel heating oil, known more commonly by its brand name, Bioheat.  This blend of renewable fuel and traditional, petroleum-based no. 2 heating oil has been hailed as the future of the industry.  Its high energy content, low emissions, and system-cleaning solvent properties have made it an attractive fuel to heating oil dealers and consumers alike.  And because much of America’s biodiesel is produced domestically, increased use of biodiesel heating oil helps reduce our country’s dependence on crude oil and petroleum products from overseas.

So where do biodiesel and Bioheat come from?  HeatingOil.com visited Tri-State Biodiesel in the Bronx, NYC to find out.  Tri-State Biodiesel uses used cooking oil as its source (known as feedstock) of biodiesel, which the company collects from restaurants around New York.  While most biodiesel producers use soybean oil as their main feedstock, Tri-State’s reliance on used cooking oil helps reduce waste and does not affect domestic supplies of food crops.

The HeatingOil.com video team documented operations at Tri-State’s processing facility and sat down with the company’s CEO, Brent Baker.  Baker shared some of his experiences as a biodiesel producer and retailer of biodiesel heating oil, and addressed the concerns that make some dealers and consumers wary of the product.

We hope that Baker’s insights and a glimpse into the biodiesel production process help to demystify biodiesel heating oil and show how and why it figures prominently in the future of the heating oil industry.

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College of William and Mary Launches Algae Biodiesel Project

Posted by Josh Garrett on July 12, 2010 at 1:03 pm

William and Mary students lower an unfinished frame section of the algae-growing vessel into lake Matoaka. (image: dailypress.com)

Students, scientists, and professors at the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia launched a newly constructed vessel onto campus-adjacent Lake Matoaka on Thursday. The purpose of the vessel is not transportation or recreation, it’s growing algae—algae that will soon be harvested and turned into biodiesel that will power cars and trucks and could also be used in oil-fired heating systems.

Virginia news site DailyPress.com reported that the project aims to grow algae that will both absorb life-choking elements from the lake and provide a renewable source of biodiesel. The algae grown on the vessel will absorb “nitrogen, phosphorus and other nutrients,” and help increase the lake’s oxygen content. Contaminated storm runoff from the William and Mary campus and local community has polluted the lake for years, making it unsafe for swimming. The nitrogen and other elements in the contaminated water, however, are a boon to algae growth in the lake—so much so that the fast-growing plant soaks up most of the oxygen in the water, making it inhospitable to fish, turtles, and other waterborne fauna and flora. The project has the potential to remove 20 percent of the lake’s pollution, according to head research scientist Karl Kuschner.

The algae grown by Kuschner’s team will be harvested every two weeks and used to manufacture biodiesel. The vessel is essentially a large floating dock with a 40-foot long rectangular hole in the center, called a flume. Pumps will move water through the flume, speeding algae growth and producing a projected six to eight gallons of dry algae for each harvest.

The W&M project is just the latest of scores of examples of turning algae into biodiesel, a clean-burning, renewable alternative to petroleum-based diesel fuel and heating oil. In January, the Department of Energy announced that the bulk of an $80 million funding package for renewable fuel development would go toward making algae-based fuels. In February, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) announced that it could soon produce jet fuel from algae at the cost of just $1 to $2 per gallon.

While scientific research is the main goal of the algae project at W&M and others like it, fuel producers and other commercial groups have lent significant financial support to such projects, with the goal of uncovering the cheapest and fastest way grow algae and turn it into marketable biofuels. As dailypress.com noted, “The William and Mary effort, part of a larger collaboration dubbed ChAP, or Chesapeake Algae Project, is funded by a $3 million grant from StatoilHydro, a Norwegian energy company.”

When commercial processes can produce algae-based biofuel at a cost that is less than the cost of producing comparable petroleum fuels, algae will become the gushing renewable gold mine that so many energy companies (including oil giant ExxonMobil) are looking for.

When that day comes, it will be cause for celebration for heating oil consumers, as cheaper and more widely available biodiesel will mean oilheat users paying less for a green fuel that burns more efficiently and more cleanly than petroleum-based fuel.

For a short video on the project, visit DailyPress.com.

Mass. Suspends Mandate for Biodiesel-Blended Heating Oil and Diesel

Posted by Josh Garrett on July 6, 2010 at 12:15 pm

The Massachusetts law requiring biodiesel be blended into heating oil and road diesel has been suspended for at least a year. (image: ecaptain.com)

On July 28 of last year, a law requiring sellers of home heating oil and road diesel to blend biodiesel into their products went on the books in Massachusetts, with a plan for the mandate to take effect on July 1, 2010. When that day arrived on Thursday, however, the Commonwealth’s Department of Energy Resources announced an indefinite suspension of the requirement, Boston.com reported on Friday. The department cited complications encountered while writing regulations for blending biofuels into petroleum products as the reason behind the suspension. Fearing that these complications could lead to high costs for businesses and higher prices for consumers, the Department of Energy Resources opted to suspend the requirement until blending parameters and programs are streamlined.

According to Philip Giudice, commissioner of the Department of Energy Resources, the suspension “was the best way to go, unfortunately.”

While heating oil dealers and consumers likely appreciate Massachusetts’s cautious approach aimed at keeping heating oil and diesel prices down, the suspension of the biofuel mandate is terrible news for the state’s biofuel producers. The decision dealt a heavy blow to an industry already weakened by a federal $1-per-gallon tax credit that was allowed to expire at the end of 2009. The tax credit has been added to and cut out of several bills this year, but has not been passed by both houses of Congress. The credit is currently under consideration in the Senate as part of the American Jobs and Closing Tax Loopholes Act (H.R. 4213). A June 30 motion to adjourn debate on the bill and put it to a vote did not pass, so it is hard to determine when, if ever, the bill will pass out of Congress and onto the president’s desk.

Until then, biofuel producers in Massachusetts who have counted on both the federal tax credit and the state blending mandate to support their businesses will be in dire economic straits. Heating oil dealer Jeff Bursaw of Bursaw Gas & Oil in Acton told Boston.com that he had to cut back on the amount of biodiesel he is adding to his product, as its rising price could push up retail prices beyond his comfort zone. “I have to back off,’’ Bursaw said. “Otherwise I’m going to blend the cost of my heating oil up another five, 10 cents a gallon.’’ Biofuel producer Curt Felix of Plankton Power, which makes biofuel from algae, is considering moving his business out of the state. “I really don’t know what to do next,’’ he said.

Despite these major setbacks, there is some optimism in the biofuel and heating oil industries that both the federal tax credit and state mandate will be reinstated soon. Said Michael Ferrante of the heating oil industry group the Massachusetts Oilheat Council, “We think the state is committed to it. July 2011 is a more realistic start date for it.’’

Irving Oil Shelves Plans for New Biodiesel Refinery

Posted by Josh Garrett on June 30, 2010 at 12:02 pm

Irving Oil no longer plans to build a biodiesel refinery next to its conventional petroleum refinery, which is the largest in Canada. (image: celebratecanada.wordpress.com)

Irving Oil, which operates Canada’s largest refinery and is one of Canada’s largest heating oil distributors, has decided to end its plans to build a biodiesel refinery next to its existing refinery in Saint John, New Brunswick, says the CBC. The company withdrew its application seeking environmental approval for the biodiesel project, said a spokesperson for Canada’s Department of Environment.

The biodiesel refinery is the second project that Irving Oil has backed out of this week; on Monday the CBC reported that the company had abandoned its rights to test tidal power in New Brunswick’s waters.

Whether this decision means that Irving Oil is no longer interested in biodiesel is unclear. Cancelling the biodiesel refinery fits into a recent pattern in which the company has scaled back its ambitions to expand. The company lost 23 of its US gas stations in February, and in 2009 the global economic downturn upended their joint venture with BP to build a second petroleum refinery.

While Irving Oil has been mum on how biodiesel may fit into its long-term plans, the short-term impact of cancelling the refinery project is to keep 2,200 barrels per day of biodiesel out of Irving Oil’s extensive home heating oil distribution network. If Irving Oil is withdrawing not just the application for this refinery but its support for biodiesel in general, that would deal a serious blow to the biodiesel industry’s inroads into the home heating oil market in Canada and—since Irving Oil also operates in New England—the US.

Alliance of Soybean Growers, Biodiesel Producers, and Heating Oil Industry Aims to Boost Supplies of Bio Heating Oil

Posted by Josh Garrett on June 17, 2010 at 11:50 am

A delivery truck for Bioheat dealer Laurelhurst Oil in Seattle, WA. (image: TDI_Nick via flickr.com)

Representatives of three industries came together at the Massachusetts Bioheat Conference in Boston this week and announced a unified commitment to expanding the availability of biodiesel-blended heating oil throughout the Northeast. Michael Ferrante of the Massachusetts Oilheat Council, Joel Thorsrud of the United Soybean Board, and Paul Nazzaro of the National Biodiesel Board (NBB) held a press conference on Wednesday to announce their agreement to cooperate on Bioheat (the trademarked brand name given to biodiesel heating oil and owned by the NBB), DomesticFuel.com reported. Their stated goal is to make all heating oil in the US contain at least 5 percent biodiesel. If this goal were reached, it would mean consumption of 450 million gallons of biodiesel per year, according to Thorsrud.

The 5 percent goal coincides with mandates for low-sulfur and biodiesel-blended heating oil that were adopted in Massachusetts last year and recently signed into law in Connecticut. Similar mandates are under consideration in New York and Rhode Island, where they face stiff political opposition from large oil companies through the American Petroleum Institute. But the success or failure to pass biodiesel and low-sulfur heating oil mandates will not affect the heating oil industry’s support of biodiesel or the coalition’s five percent goal, according to Ferrante. “[The oil heating industry] will take either a mandate or voluntary approach to embracing biofuels and ULSD [ultra low-sulfur diesel],” he said.

The three-member alliance’s cooperation gives a strong political base of support to biodiesel heating oil across the agriculture, biofuel, and heating oil industries. It also ensures a reliable supply of biodiesel feedstock (soybean oil), which is a significant concern of campaigners for more widespread adoption of Bioheat. Supplies of soybean oil from the Midwest will be sent to the Northeast mainly by rail and truck. “It’s been done for years. At this point, we’re talking rail and truck, and there’s a high level of confidence that that demand could be met throughout the seasons,” Nazzaro explained. This increased logistical and political support will help streamline an industry-wide transition to greener heating oil that is already underway. “There are over 240 retail home heating oil dealers that have adopted Bioheat…so this not just something that is starting next week,” Nazzaro said.

For heating oil users, this step toward expanding availability of Bioheat is good news. Bioheat and other biodiesel blends of heating oil are currently slightly more expensive than 100-percent petroleum heating oil, put proponents argue that the potential added cost of a few pennies per gallon is worth the benefits afforded to consumers. Biodiesel-blended heating oil burns cleaner and more efficiently than conventional heating oil and its solvent properties help keep heating systems free of buildup that can make performance suffer. Higher efficiency and cleaner systems mean lower heating oil bills and less required maintenance, which provide significant cost savings to users. As this new alliance adds momentum to the heating oil industry’s move toward higher biodiesel content in its product, added supplies of biodiesel will increase awareness of green heating oil and incrementally lower its cost.

Algae-Powered Plane Will Debut at Berlin Air Show

Posted by Michael Hoven on June 12, 2010 at 7:23 am

EADS’s algae-fueled plane will be making its first public appearance this week in Berlin. (image: eads.com)

The first airplane to fly on a 100-percent algae fuel will take to the air in Berlin this week, reported the news service AFP. EADS, a European aerospace conglomerate that operates Airbus and other aviation subsidiaries, has developed a plane that will run on pure algae-based biofuel and will be showing it off at the Berlin Air Show (ILA) that runs from June 9 to June 13.

The company’s technical director, Jean Botti, said that this is an unprecedented achievement:

At the ILA, we are going to fly for the first time a craft with biofuel that has been made 100 per cent from algae. That is a world premiere.

According to EADS promotional material, the algae biofuel has higher energy content than conventional jet fuel and causes no change in performance.

EADS’s demonstration will be the latest example of algae’s potential as a liquid fuel source with applications not just in airplanes but in diesel engines and home oil heating systems. But despite EADS work on alternative fuels, Botti does not believe algae-based fuels will eliminate the need for petroleum fuels in aviation anytime soon: “If 10 per cent of our fleet is flying with biofuel in 2040, I would be extremely happy.”

Heating Oil Weekly Roundup: Bookies Take Odds on BP’s CEO, Peak Oil Collapse, Trippy Biofuel

Posted by Michael Hoven on June 11, 2010 at 5:58 pm

(image: Pat Bagley, Salt Lake Tribune via cagle.com)

BP’s CEO, Tony Hayward, has so far been able to hang on to his job but British and Irish bookies are taking bets on whether or not he’ll get the axe, says Anthea Pitt at UpstreamOnline.com. The bookmaker Ladrokes is offering 2/1 odds that Hayward will be pushed out of the CEO position by the end of the year. Ireland’s Paddy Power gives him even less of a chance—their odds are 1/2. Paddy Power also reported that only 10 people have bet on Hayward to keep his job.

The peak oil debate can stir passions on both sides—mostly because neither side thinks there’s much debate—but an Oxford researcher, Jorg Friedrichs, spoke with Melinda Burns of the website Miller-McCune about his latest research that skipped that debate and tried to foresee what would happen if peak oil is real. His answer? The “inevitable” crumbling of our society. If you’re not buying his argument, you’re not alone; his research was rejected 12 times before someone decided to publish it.

A mutant strain of corn (or maize, as the British call it) could yield more biofuel than regular corn, says new research in the journal Genetics (via innovation-reports.com). The key is its “psychedelic genes.” The mutated genes cause yellow and green streaks in the plants leaves (giving it a psychedelic appearance), but their more important role is in directing carbohydrates to different areas of the plant, which can improve crop yields. Far-out, man.

Offshore oil drilling is now the object of great scrutiny, but much of how it works is still very obscure. To help make sense of it, Infrastructurist presents an image gallery by Tim Sheehan, with photos and explanations of the machines that make offshore drilling possible.

Heating Oil Weekly Roundup: James Cameron Wants to Help, Biofuel Breakthroughs, and Western Wind Power

Posted by Michael Hoven on June 4, 2010 at 11:41 am

(image: xkcd.com)

Kevin Costner had his chance to fight the spill. Now James Cameron, director of Avatar and Titanic, wants to help, says Rebecca Keegan at Vanity Fair. Though BP was drilling for oil, not unobtainium, Cameron says his experience with underwater filming gives him the expertise needed to combat the gushing oil. BP didn’t take him up on his offer, so Cameron called them “morons.”

Ecofriend has tallied up 10 breakthroughs in the production of biofuels. Many of the breakthroughs have been covered here at HeatingOil.com, but to see them listed shows the diversity of technological advances in biofuels. Coolest sounding? Nanofarming. Grossest looking? The gribble. (Click through for a more close-up view of a gribble than you would ever want.)

A new report from the Department of Energy says that wind power may be more promising than previously thought for the western United States, says the New York Times’ Green blog. Wind energy could provide up to 30 percent of electricity for Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, and Wyoming. The key that the study found was that those states could avoid the major pitfall of wind power—what do you do when the wind stops blowing?—by coordinating utilities operations across such a large geographic area. The wind might stop in one place, but it will be blowing somewhere in those five states.

House Bill Extends Biodiesel Tax Credit and Quadruples Oil Spill Tax

Posted by Michael Hoven on June 2, 2010 at 1:32 pm

An extension of the biodiesel tax credit and a 24-cent hike on every barrel of crude oil passed the House, but they’re still far from becoming law. (image: RitaKim108 via photobucket.com)

Two measures that will have an impact on the heating oil industry were included in a jobs and spending bill that the House of Representatives passed on Friday. The House extend the $1-per-gallon tax credit for biodiesel, a credit that lapsed in January and whose absence threatened the entire biodiesel industry, and quadrupled a tax that goes to the Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund, which experts expect will add a penny to the per-gallon price of heating oil.

The biodiesel tax credit extension and the oil spill fund tax hike were two provisions in a House bill, called the American Jobs and Closing Tax Loopholes Act (H.R. 4213), that consisted of a variety of tax measures, spending provisions, and programs aimed at job creation. Extensions of unemployment benefits and of Medicare payments to physicians formed the centerpiece of the bill, as Politico reported, and the large price tag that accompanies those extensions made for a difficult fight in the House. The Senate will debate a similar measure after its Memorial Day recess, and then a compromise bill between the two chambers will have to be created and sent to the president, meaning it could be weeks (or longer) before these provisions take effect.

Every delay adds to the pain the biodiesel industry is already experiencing, having spent months struggling and hoping for the renewal of the tax credit. The tax credit started six years ago, and while it had to be renewed every year it had never been allowed to expire. Biodiesel Magazine heard from Manning Feraci, the vice president of federal affairs for the National Biodiesel Board, who summarized the grim effects that the tax credit’s expiration has had on the industry and emphasized his industry’s potential for job creation:

Since the incentive has lapsed the industry has shed thousands of jobs, shuttered plants and is struggling to survive. Timely reinstatement of [the] biodiesel tax incentive will undoubtedly reverse this troubling trend and allow the industry to create over 12,000 new jobs in this year alone.

While final passage of the extension of the biodiesel tax credit would take care of unfinished business that has been put off since December, the catastrophe unfolding in the Gulf of Mexico prompted fresh consideration of the oil spill tax. The fund has $1.5 billion dollars, but if it’s needed to pay for the damages in the Gulf it will quickly be exhausted—costs are estimated to run more than $14 billion. Raising the tax on crude oil from 8 cents per barrel to 32 cents per barrel could raise $12 billion over the next decade to help pay for the next oil spill. Since the tax would be imposed on crude oil, oil producers (e.g., Exxon or Chevron) would pay the tax, but the costs would in all likelihood be passed on to consumers. Despite increasing the tax by 400 percent, analysts expect the impact on consumers to be barely noticeable, adding a penny or less to the per-gallon price of finished products such as heating oil and gasoline.

As the petroleum industry faces an environmental, economic, and public relations crisis, the biodiesel industry received a life preserver from the House of Representatives. The oil spill tax hike could nudge up the cost of home heating oil, but that price increase could be mitigated by government support of the biodiesel industry. As the biodiesel industry expands the costs of production fall, lowering the price of the green heating fuel that many state and local legislatures are requiring to be blended with petroleum-based heating oil.

NYC Holds Hearing on Clean Heating Oil Bill

Posted by Michael Hoven on June 1, 2010 at 1:14 pm

New York’s City Hall was the scene of a hearing on biodiesel and low-sulfur requirements for heating oil on Friday. (image: wikimedia.org)

To combat air pollution in New York City, the City Council is considering legislation that would clean up the city’s heating oil, which is responsible for a significant amount of the city’s emissions of particulate matter (soot). The Wall Street Journal reported that the New York City Council held a hearing on Friday to discuss the proposal to mandate the use of biodiesel in home heating oil, but the bill would also limit the sulfur content of one grade of sulfur-heavy heating oil (full text of the bill is available at the New York City Council website). The Council’s bill would create a cleaner heating fuel for New York City residents, but would allow for the continued use of residual fuels that are far dirtier than no. 2 heating oil and are responsible for the bulk of the city’s soot pollution.

Previously, city officials had announced their goal of phasing out the use of no. 4 and no. 6 fuel oils, called residual fuels because they are the dirty leftovers from the refining process after gasoline and distillates (no. 2 heating oil and diesel) are skimmed off. New York City’s clean heating oil bill does not call for a ban on those fuels, but does include the following two key provisions:

• All heating oil must contain at least 2 percent biodiesel by October 1, 2011. This provision applies to no. 2 heating oil (the most common grade of home heating oil) as well as no. 4 and no. 6 fuel oil (residual fuels used by industry or large building complexes).
• The sulfur content of no. 4 heating oil must be between 0.1 and 0.2 percent (1,000 to 2,000 parts per million) by October 1, 2012.

Blending biodiesel into heating oil will fulfill the bill’s primary aim of lessening air pollution by reducing heating oil’s sulfur content. Sulfur is responsible for the particulate pollution that is linked to asthma and a variety of other health problems. The bill’s authors also cite other benefits of creating incentives for biodiesel: support for the local biodiesel industry, increased energy independence, and lower emissions of greenhouse gases.

While the bill moves to reduce the sulfur content of no. 4 heating oil, it won’t stop large buildings from burning the heavy residual fuels that cause such a disproportionate amount of particulate pollution. Last December the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) reported that the roughly 1 percent of buildings in New York City that burned no. 4 or no. 6 fuel oil were responsible for 87 percent of the city’s soot pollution. To solve this problem, the EDF proposed converting buildings to no. 2 heating oil, which has a much lower sulfur content.

Representatives from the EDF and another environmental group, the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), testified at Friday’s hearing. While supportive of the bill, the EDF and the NRDC asked the City Council to make it stronger. Both recommended a firm cap on the sulfur content of no. 4 heating oil and the addition of standards to ensure that the biodiesel mandate would support local industries and come from biodiesel feedstocks that make the smallest environmental impact. The EDF asked the City Council to remove the commissioner of the Department of Environmental Protection’s ability to waive the biodiesel requirements if there was a shortage of commercially available biodiesel or if biodiesel became substantially more expensive than 100 percent petroleum fuel.

It’s not only environmentalists who favor a cleaner, greener heating oil. The national heating oil industry has embraced biodiesel blends and low-sulfur heating oil, and a number of states have passed or are considering clean heating oil legislation with strong industry support. The New York State Assembly has passed a bill that would lower the sulfur content of all heating oil, a bill that is still in debate in the New York State Senate (watch a video of New York Assemblyman Marc Alessi expressing his support for biodiesel mandates here).

Heating oil users in New York, like residents of other areas where heating oil is widely used, stand to gain from the cleaner air and other environmental benefits of such legislation, but a cleaner heating fuel has other benefits for home heating oil consumers. The sulfur in heating oil is detrimental to home heating systems, so heating systems that use cleaner heating fuels require less maintenance. Cleaner fuels also burn more efficiently, so more of the fuel you spend your money on is converted into heat that fills your home.

Converting to a new fuel standard could lead to slightly higher per-gallon prices, but as biodiesel and low-sulfur requirements become more widespread, the supply of clean heating fuel will catch up with demand and help mitigate any price increases.

Biodiesel Heating Oil Project Earns Rhode Island Students President’s Environmental Youth Award

Posted by Michael Hoven on May 24, 2010 at 2:08 pm

Students in Westerly, RI spearheaded a program to turn waste cooking oil into home heating fuel. (image: w-i-n.ws)

For seven Rhode Island middle schoolers, “TGIF” has nothing to do with the weekend. Their “Project TGIF—Turning Grease into Fuel” aims to reduce carbon emissions and donate heating fuel to low-income families by turning waste cooking oil into biodiesel. Project TGIF has been such a success that the EPA has awarded the students the President’s Environmental Youth Award, reports the environmental news website SolveClimate.

Biodiesel blended with heating oil, often sold under the trade name Bioheat, is a cleaner-burning heating fuel than 100-percent petroleum based heating oil and is fully compatible with existing heating systems. Some state legislatures have passed laws mandating that all home heating oil contain a percentage of biodiesel, and the heating oil industry has taken the lead in making biodiesel blends the green heating fuel of the future. These Rhode Island students helped raise awareness of this green option in home heating and proved that turning a waste product into a valuable fuel is not just feasible but a win-win situation for all parties concerned.

The sixth-graders from Westerly, RI persuaded the town council to install a waste cooking oil container at the local transfer station to collect used cooking oil from residents, and convinced 64 restaurants to donate their used cooking oil. Having secured the grease, the students partnered with a delivery company and a biodiesel refinery to turn the grease into heating fuel. So far, Project TGIF has collected 36,000 gallons of waste oil, enough to produce 30,000 gallons of biodiesel. According to the EPA, that biodiesel has eliminated 600,000 pounds of carbon dioxide that would have otherwise been emitted into the atmosphere.

But the students were not content with only their environmental contribution. An article in the local newspaper about the difficulty that many families had paying for home heating oil spurred the students to action. They teamed up with local charities to donate 4,000 gallons of Bioheat to 40 families in need of heating assistance.

The students traveled to Washington, DC on Thursday to accept their award from the head of the EPA, Lisa Jackson. The Westerly group was one of ten groups, each from a different region, to win the award. The administrator of the EPA’s New England region, Curt Spalding, spoke about how “impressed” he was with these students:

We have serious environmental problems, but with the creativity and commitment displayed by these students, we can find ways to effectively work toward a cleaner and healthier world.

First Synthetic Cell Holds Promise for Biodiesel and Green Heating Oil

Posted by Josh Garrett on May 23, 2010 at 6:48 am

The basic steps involved in Synthetic Genomic’s creation of a synthetic cell of bacteria. (image: nyt.com)

Dr. Craig Venter shook the scientific world and sparked a fresh debate over bio-ethics when he announced on Thursday that his team had successfully created the first synthetic cell. According to a New York Times report, scientists “synthesiz[ed] an entire bacterial genome and use[d] it to take over a cell.”

In addition to its potential applications to manufacturing vaccines, cell synthesis technology can and will be used by Dr. Venter’s company, Synthetic Genomics, to improve biofuel production from algae. From the Times:

Synthetic Genomics has a contract from Exxon to generate biofuels from algae. Exxon is prepared to spend up to $600 million if all its milestones are met. Dr. Venter said he would try to build “an entire algae genome so we can vary the 50 to 60 different parameters for algae growth to make superproductive organisms.”

While producing biodiesel and other biofuels from algae has some drawbacks, it is widely regarded as the most promising feedstock for large-scale biofuel production due to its resilient and fast-growing nature. In February, the Department of Defense’s DARPA agency announced that it would soon produce bio-jet fuel from algae at the cost of just $3 per gallon. The synthetic cell advancement could lead to the synthesis of algae cells that produce more plant oils than nature-made algae, boosting the per-acre biofuel yield of the feedstock.

Synthetic Genomics’ partnership with Exxon began just a few months ago, and was characterized as “an aggressive program” by an Exxon executive. With the huge economic resources of Exxon behind it, the biofuel applications of the synthetic cell technology will likely receive all the support needed to produce commercially viable algae-based biocrude in just a few years.

A new scientific boost to biofuel manufacturing is great news for heating oil dealers and consumers alike. As the technology for producing biodiesel (the biofuel that can be used as a drop-in replacement for petroleum-based heating oil) improves and the cost of the fuel drops, it will become more affordable and more widely available, providing heating oil users around the country with a cleaner and more sustainable heating fuel.

Watch a video report on Dr. Venter’s announcement from the UK’s Sky News below:

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HeatingOil.com Interview: State Legislators in Support of Biodiesel Heating Oil

Posted by Josh Garrett on May 12, 2010 at 1:09 pm

(image: nefi.org)

While attending the Bioheat Conference at Yankee Stadium on Tuesday, HeatingOil.com spoke with two state legislators on the subject of biodiesel and mandates that would expand the green fuel’s use in heating oil systems. Annette Quijano of New Jersey’s 20th district and Marc Alessi of New York’s 1st district both showed an interest in promoting biodiesel as a clean, renewable fuel—an interest that both legislators have backed up with action in their respective state houses. Expect to hear more about Assemblypersons Quijano and Alessi here at HeatingOil.com as they shepherd biodiesel policy through the New Jersey and New York legislatures.

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Heating Oil Dealers Prepare for Industry’s Green Future at Bioheat Conference

Posted by Josh Garrett on May 12, 2010 at 12:59 pm

Dr. Tom Butcher of Brookhaven National Laboratories shares his scientific findings on biodiesel in heating oil applications. (image: Nicholas Whitaker for HeatingOil.com)

Dozens of heating oil professionals gathered in the Bronx at the new Yankee Stadium on Tuesday in the name of a hugely important and fast-growing component of the industry: biodiesel. The Bioheat Conference, sponsored by the National Biodiesel Board, biodiesel distributors Ultra Green Energy Services and Sprague Energy, and several state industry groups, offered an intensive day packed with need-to-know info about biodiesel heating oil.

Biodiesel, also known by the brand name Bioheat, offers the heating oil industry a clear and direct path to a greener and more sustainable future. Its chemical makeup is nearly identical to road diesel and no. 2 heating oil, and it can therefore be used in existing heating systems without requiring any equipment modifications. Most companies and individuals in the heating oil industry have accepted the crucial role that biodiesel will play in the future of that industry.

Tuesday’s conference took the next step beyond general understanding and acceptance of biodiesel heating oil to offer a more detailed look at its benefits (for both dealers and consumers), explanations of how it fits in with current legislative trends, and calls for determined and tenacious advocacy to bring the news of biodiesel to the oil-heating public.

“The Best Fuel”
As New York Assemblyman Marc Alessi noted in both his prepared remarks and a brief interview with HeatingOil.com (watch our interview with Marc Alessi), biodiesel really does seem “too good to be true.” It’s a versatile fuel that can be manufactured relatively easily from a variety of sources (feedstocks), including used cooking oil, animal fats, soybeans, grass, and wood chips. Biodiesel is non-toxic and biodegradable, so it won’t harm people or the environment—unlike a crude oil spill, a “biodiesel spill” would be little more than a temporary nuisance. Assemblyman Alessi first discovered these benefits when he looked into respiratory problems in schoolchildren in relation to their exposure to school bus exhaust fumes. “In my research…biodiesel kept coming back as the best fuel,” Alessi told conference attendees. He also noted that New York State has more than enough fallow farmland to grow the soybeans (or other feedstock) that would be needed to meet a spike in demand brought on by a mandate of 20 percent biodiesel in all of the state’s vehicles and oil heating systems.

Dr. Tom Butcher of Brookhaven National Laboratories showed the conference the scientific side of biodiesel’s benefits. He described his experiences in testing biodiesel in heating systems, and reported results that were almost entirely positive. On the subject of fewer emissions, Dr. Butcher noted, “biodiesel is essentially a sulfur-free fuel,” which eliminates the emission of sulfur dioxide, a byproduct of combusting petroleum fuels that causes respiratory problems and acid rain. He also dispelled some negative “rumors” about biodiesel, citing a Brookhaven study sponsored by the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority that placed a B20 blend of biodiesel heating oil (20 percent biodiesel/80 percent petroleum fuel) in 100 homes around the state. The results of the study showed excellent system performance across the board, with no adverse effects as a result of low temperatures. He also singled out home heating systems as a “better place” (as opposed to vehicles) for biodiesel due to their stationary nature.

The Legislative Writing on the Wall
One reason that Bioheat and similar fuels are good for the heating oil industry is that state, regional, and national governments have been and are continuing to make laws to reduce our nation’s reliance on petroleum. Ten governors from Northeastern states have declared their intentions to legislate low-carbon fuel standards that could apply to heating oil in the near future. Congress has been considering new laws to regulate carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas emissions. Several state legislatures are working on new legislation to lower the sulfur content of heating oil and mandate biodiesel blending. Supplying and marketing biodiesel heating oil will bring the industry into compliance with all of those developing policies, possibly before they are enacted. “We need to clean up our fuel,” National Oilheat Research Alliance President John Huber frankly stated from the podium at Yankee Stadium. Based on his comments and those of other presenters, increased utilization of biodiesel is the best way to do it.

In biodiesel, the heating oil industry has a product that can be produced domestically and creates few heat-trapping or otherwise harmful emissions. As Huber put it, “heating oil can become a zero-emissions fuel.” By aggressively adopting internal standards, the heating oil industry can place itself ahead of the curve on new laws and requirements calling for fewer emissions and smaller carbon footprints.

Getting the Word Out
The economic, operational, and environmental benefits of biodiesel heating oil have been tested and proven many times over. Pending legislation and other policies will soon make it a legally sanctioned (if not required) fuel. So what’s stopping every heating oil user from demanding biodiesel? The main hurdle seems to be lack of knowledge. Many heating oil consumers don’t even know biodiesel heating fuel is an option, and if they don’t know about it, they can’t ask for it. Some heating oil users (and dealers, for that matter) have a vague understanding of biodiesel, but are skeptical of its easy, drop-in application to oil heating equipment. One attendee asked Assemblyman Alessi what the main impediment to wider consumer acceptance of biodiesel is, and his response was simple and immediate: “fear of the unknown,” he said. Therein lies one challenge for the heating oil industry—informing its customers about the benefits of biodiesel heating oil so that they understand them when the product becomes available.

Tuesday’s Bioheat conference offered heating oil dealers and other industry representatives with valuable tools for tackling that challenge. As the industry continues to go green, the determination of insiders like those who attended the conference has the power to make biodiesel and Bioheat household terms.

Heating Oil Industry to Meet on Biodiesel at Yankee Stadium May 11

Posted by Josh Garrett on May 3, 2010 at 4:09 pm

(image: nefi.com)

Next week, heating oil wholesalers and retailers will meet with biodiesel industry representatives at New York City’s Yankee Stadium for a conference on Bioheat (the brand name of heating oil that includes biodiesel). The NYC Bioheat Conference will take place next Tuesday May 11 from 9:00 am until 4:00 pm.

The event, sponsored by the National Biodiesel Board, biofuels distributor and marketer Ultra Green Energy Services, and other industry groups, will feature speakers from different sections of the biodiesel and heating oil industries. One notable speaker will be Raymond Hart, president of Hart Petroleum—a Bioheat pioneer in the heating oil industry.

As increasing numbers of Northeastern states move toward mandating biodiesel content in heating oil, those in the industry would do well to stay educated on how to use and market biodiesel as a heating fuel.

While some aspects of the heating oil business’ future remain unclear, there is no doubt that Bioheat and other forms of biodiesel heating oil will be a part of that future.

For more details on the conference or to register, contact the NY Oil Heating Association at nyoilheating@nyc.rr.com or reach association representative John Maniscalco by phone at (212)695-1380.

Researchers Recycle Used Coffee Grounds into Biodiesel

Posted by Michael Hoven on May 2, 2010 at 8:03 am

Coffee: it could keep you and your heating system running. (image: channelbf.com)

Anyone who’s ever heard decaffeinated coffee referred to as “unleaded” knows the intimate relationship between coffee and fuel. Now researchers at the University of Missouri have gone one step further, and are working on a method to convert used coffee grounds into biodiesel, reports The Maneater, the university’s student paper (via the Huffington Post).

Researchers and staff collected the coffee grounds from the faculty cafeteria and a local Starbucks, then extracted oil from the grounds and converted the oil into biodiesel. The research team is testing the fuel on a diesel engine in their laboratory, but any biodiesel that is successfully developed could also be blended with home heating oil.

Used coffee grounds are an attractive alternative to soybeans, a common biodiesel feedstock, because used coffee grounds are not a potential food source. Additionally, like another biodiesel feedstock, waste cooking oil (which is used by Tri-State Biodiesel, for example), coffee grounds would otherwise be thrown away. Converting coffee grounds to biodiesel is a way of recycling.

A team of British scientists have developed a coffee-powered car (the Car-puccino) for a BBC science program, but the car was terribly inefficient, and was built primarily to dramatize the variety of potential alternative fuels rather than present a plausible substitute for fossil fuels.

The University of Missouri researchers, on the other hand, are trying to develop an affordable fuel from coffee grounds, and have found a way to extract the oil from the grounds without drying them. Drying coffee grounds is both time-consuming and energy-intensive. By eliminating drying and by recycling material, the researchers have lowered the costs of producing biodiesel.

Coffee already helps people get through rush hour, morning meetings, and homework assignments—why not let it heat your home, too?

NY Company Announces Plans for Production of Low-Cost Heating Oil from Wood Chips

Posted by Josh Garrett on April 30, 2010 at 12:58 pm

Clenergen has announced a partnership with a division of home heating company Honeywell that is aimed at producing low-cost heating oil from high-yield biomass like the fast-growing plants Beema Bamboo and Marjestica, shown here. (image: ecoseed.org)

The latest exciting announcement in the production of heating oil from biomass came from New York-based Clenergen on Thursday. The company sent out a press release announcing a partnership with Honeywell’s Envergent Technologies to produce pyrolysis oil from fast-growing plants Marjestica, Beema Bamboo, and Vaneshree; pyrolysis oil can be used as heating oil and as a fuel for heavy equipment. The plants would be processed into wood chips or pellets that would in turn be used as the biomass fuel for the pyrolysis process.

The technology is not a new breakthrough—other companies have used pyrolysis (a process that utilizes intense heat and pressure in an oxygen-free environment to extract fuel oil from biomass) to produce heating oil-friendly biofuel before. What’s remarkable about Clenergen’s announcement is the cost-effectiveness of the process. At a time when biodiesel heating oil and other biofuels tend to be more expensive than their fossil fuel-based counterparts, the entire green fuels industry is racing to create a product that can be mass produced at a cost that is equal to or lower than the cost of producing hydrocarbon fuels. According to Clenergen’s press release:

The high yield per acre of biomass will reduce the cost of production significantly and is expected to produce a fuel oil substitute at costs that are at least 25% less than petroleum-derived fuel oils.

Assuming the company’s estimate is accurate, the 25 percent discount for heating oil producers could provide a huge boost to the commercial attractiveness of pyrolysis oil and allow it to eventually take over a significant section of the heating oil market. The company plans to draw biomass plants from supply operations in South America, Africa, and the Philippines.

The pyrolysis oil produced by Clenergen still has a long way to travel before it reaches the US heating oil market—the press release marks only the signing of the agreement between Clenergen and its collaborators. The next step will be “feedstock tests” scheduled for completion by August of this year, followed by “a Front-End Engineering Design Study” that will lay the foundation for construction of pyrolysis production facilities. Given all of the testing, preparation, and construction that remain to be done, it will likely be two years or more until Clenergen’s green heating oil product is available on wholesale or retail markets.

Nevertheless, Clenergen’s announcement is great news for the heating oil industry. Another clean, renewable heating oil product in addition to biodiesel heating oil (also known by its brand name, Bioheat) on the market, and an affordable one at that, will help bring down costs for dealers and consumers alike while reducing emissions and dependence on foreign oil. Demand for such green products will undoubtedly increase in the next few years, as more and more states implement low-sulfur and biodiesel requirements for heating oil.

Obama: Biofuels Are Part of America’s “Clean Energy Future”

Posted by Michael Hoven on April 29, 2010 at 10:14 am

President Obama tours the POET biorefinery in Macon, MO. (image: nytimes.com)

President Barack Obama visited the POET biorefinery in Macon, MO on Wednesday to emphasize his commitment to making biofuels a key component of America’s future energy mix, and make the US “first when it comes to biodiesel and the technologies that are being developed in places like POET.” In his speech, Obama hailed biofuels’ advantages as a clean, renewable, and domestic energy source that could create jobs and lead to energy independence.

As the Kansas City Star reported, Obama focused as much on economic recovery as he did on environment and energy. He pledged to follow through on the plan laid out by the Renewable Fuels Standard, which calls for US production of biofuels to triple by 2022, and said, “There shouldn’t be any doubt that renewable, homegrown fuels are a key part of our strategy for a clean energy future.”

In his remarks (full text available at the White House website),Obama made it clear that the development of biofuels was just one part of a broader strategy to create jobs and develop clean, domestic energy:

We began early last year by making the largest investment in clean energy in our nation’s history. It’s an investment that we expect will create or save up to 700,000 jobs across America by the end of 2012—jobs manufacturing next-generation batteries for next-generation vehicles; jobs upgrading a smarter, stronger power grid; jobs doubling the capacity to generate renewable energy from sources like sun and wind and biofuels, just like you do here.

POET produces more than one quarter of the country’s ethanol each year, and is a leader in cellulosic ethanol, which uses the non-edible parts of plants such as corn cobs. Even though Obama toured an ethanol biorefinery and made his remarks while a front-end loader filled with corn stood next to him, the president was intent on endorsing biofuels in general, not just ethanol (to the dismay of ethanol advocates). The ethanol industry may have wished that Obama had offered more specific support for the corn-based fuel, but his inclusive endorsement of all biofuels could be good news for heating oil users.

While gasoline is blended with ethanol, home heating oil is blended with biodiesel, which can be produced from a wide variety of feedstocks. If the government backs the production of biodiesel from algae, waste cooking oil, or other sources—and not just ethanol production—heating oil users are more likely to have access to a clean and affordable heating fuel.

Watch the full video of President Obama’s remarks at the POET biorefinery below.

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