Rhode Island Raises Heat with Green Heating Oil Requirement

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Watch out Quahog, the Griffins soon will have 2% of their heating oil contain "green heat." Rhode Island Governor Lincoln Chafee recently signed legislation that will ensure all of the state's heating oil becomes Bioheat by 2014. Starting July 1, 2014, every gallon of heating oil in the state will contain at least 2% biodiesel. The Bioheat blend is a greener heating oil that has become popular in Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic states.

Other states in the New England region have passed similar bills, but Rhode Island will be the first to implement the program statewide. The legislation seeks to reach 5% blends by 2017.

"We're proud that the Bioheat requirement has passed, because it will benefit not only our industry, but heating oil consumers in our state," said Julie Gill, executive director and CEO of the Oil Heat Institute of Rhode Island. "Oil heat systems run more effectively with a biodiesel blend, and Bioheat will help heating oil be more environmentally competitive. We will continue to work toward making our product the cleanest fuel available."

Currently, there are 12 biodiesel plants operating in the New England region--Connecticut, Massachusetts, Maine, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Vermont--that have a combined estimated capacity of 18.75 million gallons per year of production. Most of the plants have less than 1 million gallons per year of capacity.

The largest plant, which is in New Haven, Connecticut, and is owned by Greenleaf Biofuels, has an annual capacity of 6 million gallons per year. The second-largest is owned by White Mountian Biodiesel in North Haverhill, New Hampshire. Biocardel operated a 4 million-gallon-per-year plant in Swanton, Vermont, but it was shut down and put into mothballed status in 2010 due to unfavorable economics in the industry. The new legislation could spark re-openings, capacity increases and new plant construction in the region.

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