With more and more environmentally friendly energy options out there, it’s important that New York residents understand what’s available to them. Bioheat® fuel is a low-carbon heating fuel that has been delivered in the Upstate NY area for several years. It is crucial that homeowners and business owners have general knowledge of what Bioheat® is, what it is used for, and why it is a leading environmentally friendly fuel option.

Maybe you haven’t heard of Bioheat® fuel before, or maybe you haven’t quite learned the basics yet. Bioheat® fuel works in place of traditional #2 heating oil, and the difference between traditional fuel oil and Bioheat® fuel is that the latter incorporates percentages of renewable substances—ones typically extracted as by-products during agricultural crop harvesting. Other sources of waste oil can be recycled into Bioheat® fuel as well, such as used cooking oil from your favorite New York pizza restaurant.

There are two main reasons everyone’s discussing Bioheat® fuel lately. The first is because New York has recently implemented a statewide mandate for all heating oil deliveries to contain at least 5% biodiesel, which is the renewable portion of your Bioheat® fuel. The second reason is because Bioheat® fuel offers significant environmental benefits, including reducing carbon emissions dramatically via its low sulfur content. Homeowners can shrink their carbon footprint simply by ordering fuel as usual and not having to make expensive equipment upgrades.

Equipment manufacturers are on board with the Bioheat® fuel movement and work hard to ensure the machinery they produce will use it as efficiently as traditional oil. Existing oil heat equipment is currently approved to use up to B20 Bioheat® fuel, which means a percentage of 20% biodiesel and 80% ultra-low sulfur heating oil. As technology advances in the coming years, homeowners will be able to expect to replace their aging heating equipment with newer tech that can utilize even higher percentages of Bioheat® fuel. Right now, there are federal tax credits available for new heating equipment installations that are compatible with Bioheat® fuel.

Resources are available to inform readers about Bioheat® fuel at BetterwithBioheat.com or MyBioheat.com.