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January 02, 2003 Here's a little fuel for thought Home-heating mixtures may help reduce oil dependency By Nicoletta Koveos Times Herald-Record nkoveos@th-record.com Newburgh – Gary St. John doesn't even remember getting the call. All he knows now is that he's part of an experiment with Abbott & Mills Oil Heat. St. John uses soybean oil in addition to fuel oil to heat his home. Potentially, the soybean oil and other oils – like used cooking oil – could see widespread use and lessen the nation's dependence on oil imports. For St. John, nothing's changed. When it's cold outside, his house is warm. That's all he cares about. "It was one of those things, you know. My oil and the furnace is something that [Abbott & Mills has] taken care of," St. John said. "It's just one of those things that I don't worry about." St. John is one of about 100 customers living in Newburgh who are part of this experiment. Customers are heating their homes with a product called B-20, a mixture of 80 percent petroleum-based diesel and 20 percent biodiesel. Ralph L. Mills, general manager of Abbott & Mills said it's important to find alternatives to heating homes. "The alternative we're experimenting with is a domestically available product, it's renewable, it's environmentally friendly," Mills said. "It allows us to substitute, at least to a certain degree, a very positive product for a product that sometimes is difficult to get." Biodiesel is produced by blending lye, methanol or ethanol and oil, then letting it settle. The oil used is regular soybean oil that one would buy in the supermarket. "It is made from vegetable or animal oils," said Ray Albrecht, a spokesman with the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority. "It can be wastes, grease from fast-food restaurants or it can be processed from plants, like soybeans." As far as Abbott & Mills can tell, the mixture heats homes just as well as using regular fuel oil. For Abbott & Mills, last year was the first conducting the experiment and it went on without a hitch. Things are looking good so far this year too, Mills said. "They don't notice any difference in operation," Mills said. "To date we haven't seen any changes, we haven't seen any negatives." Environmentally, using these substitutes could be very beneficial in the long run, Albrecht said. Mills calls biodiesel fuel "environmentally neat" because it's not as toxic for the environment as pure fuel oil is. "Really, one of the important values of this biodiesel process is the potential to take care of waste oils and greases," he said. "It's burned as a fuel and it's displacing regular diesel. You are probably emitting a lot less hydrocarbons." Biodiesel releases less carbon monoxide and fewer hydrocarbons and particles than petroleum-based diesel, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. It works with most diesel engines. Biodiesel is the fastest-growing alternative fuel in the country, according to the National Biodiesel Board, which touts its ability to extend engine life, improve fuel economy, cut down on air pollution and reduce reliance on foreign oil. It has been in use in Europe for some 15 years. Abbott & Mills first heard of using soybean oil at a conference. The company teamed up with the state's energy research authority, which is funding additional costs that Abbott & Mills accrues as a result of the experiment. The soybean oil comes from a company in the Binghamton area. One of the only problems about using soybean oil to heat homes is its price. Biodiesel is more expensive than traditional diesel - at least 30 percent more at one point last summer. To lower costs, lawmakers have proposed tax incentives for using biodiesel, but Congress adjourned for the session without acting on the bills. "If it were the same price, I think we would see use expand dramatically," said Jenna Higgins, spokeswoman for the biodiesel board, a trade group affiliated with the U.S. Department of Agriculture. "There's a price difference even at the wholesale level," Mills said. "It's a matter of scale right now. There's not enough demand for it." So Abbott & Mills is moving along, hoping that one day demand will increase and price will go down. The company is now experimenting with using only soybean oil to heat homes. Mills explained that pure soybean oil would be harder to store in cold weather because it would coagulate. The company is using pure soybean oil in tanks located in home basements. Michael Edelstein, president of Orange Environment, said there are a few questions to take into consideration to decide whether this is a good thing or not. Is soybean oil a waste product that is currently being thrown away? Does it burn as cleanly as regular oil? Would it be a better use for soybean oil? "I think that certainly, they should be lauded for trying to do something positive," Edelstein said. "So I certainly would have a positive inclination toward this. I can't say just how positive it is." But Abbott & Mills isn't only doing the experiment because biodiesel fuel could be better for the environment – they have to get something out of it too. "If this becomes a viable product, we're ahead of other people," Mills said. "I'd be thrilled to be able to offer a product and say, 'This is the wave of the future.' " The Associated Press contributed to this report. 40 Mulberry Street * PO Box 2046 * Middletown, NY 10940 Telephone 845-341-1100 or 800-295-2181 outside the Middletown, N.Y., area. Powered by THRNewMedia.com
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