This Renewable Fuel Burns Cleaner than Natural Gas
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 oil to canola, tallow, fats, and algae.
These renewable products are defined as feedstocks for producing biodiesel. Blends of biodiesel in heating oil are designated in percentages. For example, a 5% blend of biodiesel is designated as B5. B10 refers to a 10% blend, while B20 is a 20% blend.
In New Jersey, many gallons of heating oil are classified as Bioheat fuel. While most of the Bioheat fuel is still in the B5 range (95% heating oil and 5% biofuel blend), it’s expected that B20 will soon be the norm with even higher blends to follow.
This high level of biofuel is why B20 Bioheat Plus® fuel burns extremely clean—generating less greenhouse gas emissions than a natural gas system. Methane—the main component of natural gas—has the capacity to trap so much heat in the atmosphere that over one century, one ton of this gas causes 32 times as much warming as one ton of carbon dioxide.
That’s why Bioheat fuel is making an immediate impact on reducing greenhouse gas emissions for our climate. The heating oil industry’s embrace of renewable Bioheat fuel is transforming home heating and helping to create a better, greener future.
Today’s heating equipment regularly achieves efficiency levels of 85% or better. With the introduction of higher blends of Bioheat fuel, we will start to see super high-efficiency systems available in the U.S. These systems will achieve efficiency levels of 90% or more!
Heating Oil Safety
Feeling safe at home is a primary reason why people prefer to warm their homes with heating oil rather than natural gas.
First, compared to conventional heating oil—which remains a safe fuel on its own because it can’t explode—Bioheat® fuel has a higher, even safer flash point, also known as ignition temperature. The Bioheat fuel in your tank is as likely to explode as the water in your backyard swimming pool. It’s that safe.
Plus, with an oil tank on your property, you can always count on having a secure, on-site supply at your home. Heating oil is easily transported and handled by highly trained professionals, who use equipment and techniques that keep safety at the forefront.
Contrast all that to natural gas delivery. If an underground natural gas pipeline gets damaged, customers may lose their supply until repairs get done. That’s the last thing you need during a bitter cold New Jersey winter. Unlike heating oil, you cannot stock up on natural gas when the weather gets cold! Occasionally, you will also read the sad news about a natural gas explosion that resulted in fatalities.
Additionally, unlike natural gas, an oil heating system poses a very low risk of carbon monoxide poisoning. If an oil burner malfunctions (most often due to a lack of maintenance), the safety devices in the unit will typically shut the oil furnace or oil boiler off. You cannot get that peace of mind with a natural gas boiler or furnace.
Read more about what you can expect with a safe heating oil delivery.