University of Cincinnati researchers built an artificial photosynthetic foam based on the foam created by the Tungara frog during mating. (image: newsimg.bbc.co.uk)

The Tungara frog is a semi-tropical frog found in Central and South America, and known for creating foam nests that nurture offspring while they develop into tadpoles. Now researchers at the University of Cincinnati have used Tungaras’ foam nests as the basis for the design of their own foam that will conduct artificial photosynthesis, reported PhysOrg.com on Tuesday. Like natural photosynthesis in plants, the artificial foam converts sunlight and carbon dioxide into sugars; those sugars can then be converted into ethanol or other biofuels, according to Assistant Professor David Wendell, one of the researchers.

The foam contains enzymes from plants, bacteria, frogs, and fungi to allow it to conduct photosynthesis. Producing sugars from artificial photosynthesis could avoid several obstacles that confront production of other biofuels. First, the foam is more efficient at converting sunlight to sugar than real plants, because plants have to devote some of their energy toward staying alive. Second, the foam doesn’t need to be planted in soil so it doesn’t compete for land with food production. Third, the foam can be used in high-carbon dioxide areas—such as near coal-burning power plants—where high CO2 levels would essentially drown plants impede natural photosynthesis.

As with most advances in the sometimes-strange world of biofuels research, the next big challenge is using this technology in a large-scale application. Filling your home heating oil tank with fuel produced by foam designed to be like the foam nests of a semi-tropical frog seems like a long shot—but using the ancient remains of dinosaurs and plants to heat our homes and run our sounds a little farfetched, too.

Pennsylvania’s state capitol is the scene of the latest push for low-sulfur heating oil. (image: media.pennlive.com)

On Wednesday Pennsylvania State Sen. Ted Erickson introduced a bill (full text of Senate Bill 1282 available here) that would require heating oil to have a maximum sulfur content of 15 parts per million and be blended with biodiesel. With this bill Pennsylvania joins a growing list of states to propose a shift to a cleaner heating fuel for home heating oil consumers.

The bill in Pennsylvania would amend a 2008 bill known as the Biofuel Development and In-State Production Incentive Act. The low-sulfur mandate would go into effect on May 1, 2011; heating oil in Pennsylvania is currently allowed to have a sulfur content of up to 2,000 parts per million. The requirement for heating oil to include 10 percent biodiesel would go into effect on May 1, 2013.

Just yesterday HeatingOil.com reported on the latest call for New York State to mandate low-sulfur heating oil, in the form of an op-ed written jointly by the CEOs of the New York Oil Heating Association and the American Lung Association of New York. Wherever legislation requiring low-sulfur heating oil has been proposed, the heating oil industry has been a vocal supporter. It’s no different in Pennsylvania, where the Pennsylvania Petroleum Marketers support the new legislation, according to the blog PA Environment Digest.

New York, New Jersey, Maine and now Pennsylvania—low-sulfur heating oil could be on the way in those states, and the rest of the Northeast may not be far behind.

This is good news for heating oil consumers because low-sulfur heating oil would be a cleaner and more efficient fuel. Greater efficiency means that more heating oil is converted into energy to heat your home, and a cleaner fuel means lower maintenance costs. Low-sulfur heating oil also emits less sulfur dioxide, a pollutant linked to smog and health problems, which means cleaner air for heating oil consumers and their neighbors.

The Federal Reserve's decision on interest rates tomorrow will have an effect on oil prices. (image: wikimedia.org)

Last week, inventory and consumption data, a fluctuating dollar and bouncing stock markets all combined to make for a lot and peaks and troughs in heating oil prices that amounted to a three-cent-per-gallon price increase from Monday to Friday.

This week, the main event to watch for tracking heating oil prices will be the meeting of the Federal Reserve to set interest rates. Most expect the Fed to keep interest rates at their super-low levels to encourage lending and help speed along the sluggish economic recovery in the US. Assuming the Fed keeps rates steady, the value of the US dollar will likely drop in response, making crude oil a more attractive investment and driving up oil prices.

On the other hand, demand for heating oil has already dropped off significantly due to warmer weather in the Northeast last week. As that warm weather continues, heating oil demand will continue to decline and drive prices lower, especially if lower consumption patterns are reflected in this week’s report on US distillate inventories.

So look for economic factors bringing moderately higher heating oil prices on Monday and Tuesday, with the possibility of supply and demand data flattening prices out later in the week.

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(image: cyberinvestmentguide.com and Nicholas Whitaker via heatingoil.com)

Tuesday saw little new information to change the picture of supply and demand in the oil markets, but gains in stock markets and other commodities markets encouraged traders to push up the price of crude and heating oil. Some analysts pointed to the expectation that economic conditions will improve through the rest of the year to explain yesterday’s rising prices; those who anticipate that prices will rise in the medium term have an incentive to buy commodities now and would be less concerned about day-to-day changes in the oil markets. The EIA report, due out at 10:30 am, will give some new insight into supply and demand in the oil markets.

Today’s average retail heating oil price in the Northeast is 4 cents higher than Tuesday’s average price.

Nubble Light House, Maine. (image: ryanbogosta via flickr.com)

Last week’s statewide survey of heating oil prices showed that the average price of heating oil in Maine rose by a penny. The average retail price for heating oil in the state is now $2.67 a gallon, the same as it was on January 20th, when it exhibited its first decline since early December. Heating oil prices have remained stable for the past few weeks. Now, actual prices fall within a range of $2.36-2.85 a gallon, with the higher prices coming from the east and lower prices from the southwest. Surveys are conducted by the Governor’s Office of Energy Independence and Security on a weekly basis.

In New Jersey, corruption in the heating assistance program took money from families in need. (image: blogtalkradio.com)

The local manager of a heating assistance program pleaded guilty on Friday to stealing more than $24,000 in state funds, reports NewJerseyNewsroom.com. As HeatingOil first reported in August of last year, Constance Campbell took advantage of her position as Home Energy Assistance (HEA) manager for Tri-County Community Action Partnership to file false applications for herself and five family members, all of whom have also pleaded guilty. Campbell and the involved relatives worked with a local heating oil dealer to cash HEA checks intended for purchases of heating oil.

Tri-County Community Action Partnership was contracted by the state of New Jersey to administer the state’s heating assistance program in Cumberland, Gloucester, and Salem counties. The program is part of the federally funded Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP), which is administered at the state level and is often referred to as HEAP or, as in New Jersey, HEA.

Campbell processed fraudulent applications for her own benefit that amounted to $4,089, and $19,921 worth of fraudulent applications for her family members, none of whom were eligible for HEA benefits. Campbell is responsible for full restitution for all funds, and her family members will share responsibility for restitution of the money they received.

In addition to restitution, Constance Campbell and three other family members face possible time behind bars. The state will recommend that Constance Campbell be sentenced to five years in state prison for the charge of official misconduct. A sister, Patsy Campbell, a brother, Dennis Campbell, and his wife, Hollyann Allen were charged with theft by deception and the state has recommended they be sentenced to 364 days in county jail. Two other sisters, Denise Campbell and Priscilla Campbell, pleaded guilty to misapplication of entrusted government property and do not face jail time. Sentencing is scheduled for May 27.

Of the $24,010 that the Campbell family diverted from New Jersey families in need of heating assistance, the bulk of it—$15,000—was converted into cash with the help of Thomas Harris, the owner of Harris Fuel Oil in Paulsboro, NJ. Last August Harris pleaded guilty to money laundering and misapplication of government property. By issuing cash for HEA checks instead of heating oil, he defrauded the HEA program of over $400,000 and could receive four years in prison.

The $24,000 stolen by the Campbells is a relatively paltry sum compared to the profits of international oil companies or the bonuses paid to Wall Street executives, but it was taken from a program already straining to help those in need. Rep. Ed Markey (D-MA) has called for more money to be made available, and LIHEAP applications have reached record numbers in each of the last three years. The typical LIHEAP award is only $500 per household, which is not enough to cover a family’s heating costs for the winter, and is only a stopgap measure. The $24,000 diverted to the Campbells could have helped roughly 48 New Jersey families in danger of being without heat in the winter.

An agreement with Able Energy gives Dixon 2,000 new heating oil customers. (image: jwpierson.com and ableenergy.com)

In the latest step by Able Energy to make good on the pre-paid contracts that it was unable to fulfill, leaving some of its New Jersey customers in the cold, the Rockaway-based heating oil company reached an agreement with Dixon Bros. to transfer the accounts of roughly 2,000 customers.

The president of Dixon, Jennifer Pierson, confirmed the agreement to the New Jersey Star-Ledger on Tuesday, and said Dixon had already made hundreds of deliveries to Able Energy customers.

Able Energy customers reported that their pre-paid heating oil deliveries never arrived, or were so small that their heating oil tanks remained in danger of running dry. Customers were unable to reach Able Energy on the phone, and the New Jersey Division of Consumer Affairs and the Morris County Prosecutor’s Office have launched an investigation of Able Energy. Able Energy’s president, Louis Aponte, has said that Able will fulfill its promised deliveries or issue a refund to affected customers.

Customers who have received a credit from Able, instead of a refund, can apply it to an oil delivery from Dixon. David Levitt, the general manager of Dixon, said that Dixon cannot issue any refund for oil that Able failed to deliver, and Pierson would not comment on why Able could not make its promised deliveries.

The 2,000 accounts that Dixon will take over represent only a portion of Able Energy’s customers, which in 2008 numbered 16,000 in New Jersey alone. Dixon is only taking on customers who have not canceled their contracts with Able and who have full-service contracts with automatic delivery. According to Levitt, very few of these customers had pre-paid for their oil with Able or have an outstanding credit from Able.

Able Energy’s agreement with Dixon provides some evidence to support Aponte’s claim that Able would fulfill all of its contractual obligations. However, while Dixon might be a new home for 2,000 former Able customers, it is only a partial solution. Customers without full-service contracts, or who have canceled their contracts out of frustration, may not know where to turn for their next heating oil delivery.

(image: johncudw2399 via flickr.com)

The Associated Press reported on Tuesday that heating oil prices in Maine remained steady over the last week.  Retail prices ranged from $2.34 per gallon in southern Maine to $2.85 the eastern part of the state for the week ending February 20.

The statewide average remained unchanged at $2.66 per gallon.

Total workers meet with the plant director at the refinery in Flanders, which Total plans to close. The director’s helmet reads “CGT,” the initials of a French labor confederation. (image: AFP via google.com)

The price of home heating oil rose on Friday—and could continue to rise—because of a strike in France. Refinery workers at French multinational Total went on strike on February 16, bringing Total’s refinery operations to a halt, Bloomberg reported on Monday. While global oil inventories are high enough to compensate for a brief hiatus in French oil refining, the labor dispute and threat of future supply interruptions was enough to bring at least one day of higher oil prices on NYMEX. If the strike continues, or if it expands beyond Total to the rest of the oil industry in France, global oil stockpiles could shrink and the price of crude and refined products, such as heating oil, could spike.

Talks between Total and French labor groups broke down on Monday. Having failed to reach an agreement, a representative of the CGT, a French confederation of trade unions, said that “[t]he strike will be intensified and extended to all refineries.” The representative, Charles Foulard, added that there would be fuel shortages in France this week, and drivers should fill up their cars when they can. UFIP, an oil industry group in France, denied that any fuel shortage was imminent and said that France had 10–20 days worth of oil.

Six of France’s twelve refineries are operated by Total, and the strike has affected production of 1.1 million barrels a day of refined products. If the strike is extended, as Foulard says, ExxonMobil’s two refineries in France will likely be the next to stop production. The CGT has called for Exxon’s refineries workers to strike on Tuesday, February 23.

The strike is in response to Total’s plans to close down the refinery at its plant in Flanders. Like the US refining industry, Total’s refining sector has struggled as the recession cut into fuel demand. Total’s offer to the striking workers includes job guarantees, a training center to be built at the closed refinery, and plans to invest in the five remaining refineries.

For heating oil consumers, prices could rise as Total’s workers hold out and refineries in France lay idle. However, the prospect of permanently closing a refinery does not bode well for consumers, either. The reason it has proved to be a profitable move for oil companies is that less refining capacity means lower supplies of oil products and higher prices.

Big Bird loves flowers and other green things, and the Sesame Street studio he calls home is now a little greener. (image: thetorchonline.com)

The lovable characters on Sesame Street have been teaching children earth-friendly lessons for decades, and now their real-life home has put those lessons into practice. Kaufman Astoria Studios in New York City recently switched to biodiesel heating oil for their heating fuel, the New York Daily News reported on Tuesday.

Kaufman Astoria, the City’s oldest functioning movie and television studio, recently contracted Brooklyn-based METRO fuel company to supply 80,000 gallons of biofuel heating oil per year. METRO offers a product called Greenheat, a blend of biodiesel and petroleum-based heating oil with a biodiesel content of two to 20 percent. The heating oil provided to Kaufman Astoria studios is a B5 blend, signifying five percent biodiesel content.

“Von, two, three, four, five percent biofuel! Ah ah ah!” (image: latimes.com)

The studio’s head engineer told the Daily News that its heating system is functioning “beautifully” with the new green fuel. “We’re burning less oil than before. We don’t have to do as much maintenance [on the boiler],” he said.

METRO, which supplies several commercial clients in New York with Greenheat, is planning to open a 110-million-gallon biodiesel processing plant in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, sometime this year.

Kaufman Astoria’s adoption of biodiesel heating oil is part of a fast-growing trend in the heating oil industry. Using biodiesel heating oil helps reduce the demand for imported crude oil, reduces greenhouse gas emissions, increases heating system efficiency, and reduces the need for heating system maintenance by dissolving built-up impurities.

Asked why he opted to go with biodiesel heating oil, Kaufman Astoria president Hal Rosenbluth replied, “Anytime you can do something and not damage your budget dramatically and be able to burn a cleaner fuel…why wouldn’t I?”