BioHeat, or Fuel Oil Blended with Soybean-Based Biodiesel: Better
Than Straight Fuel Oil but LP Gas/Propane is a Better Deal and Better for the
Environment (at current blend levels) , and More Versatile as an Alternative Portable Source of Heat
Bioheat is a name trademarked by the National Biodiesel
Board given to biofuels blended with conventional home heating fuel oil. According
to the company Ohio Bioheat they are offering home heating fuel oil blended
with up to 20% biodiesel derived from soybean oil. They describe it as “an
environmentally friendly alternative to your current home heating fuel.” It can
be burned in regular home heating oil furnaces and so may be a practical
alternative to some who rely on such furnaces. It can extend the life of the furnaces
and reduce need for maintenance. It burns cleaner and more efficiently so the
danger of indoor fumes relative to straight fuel oil is reduced. There is less odor,
smoke, NOx, sulfur oxides, CO2, and particulate matter. It reduces deposits that
can clog burner components. Bioheat also reduces soot buildup which makes the
fuel burn more efficiently. Bioheat is renewable and domestically produced.
As an economic impact the biodiesel can bring down the price
of soybean meal livestock feed since the oil is a byproduct of making the meal.
Thus, it is less impactful in the “food vs. fuel” argument often brought up
against corn-based ethanol. Restaurant owners can sell their used cooking oil
to be filtered for biodiesel. There are quality certifications for biodiesel so
certified oils are always recommended. Biodiesel can be blended from 2% all the
way to 100%. A 5% blend is common. Most bioheat providers top out at 20%
biodiesel and 80% low-sulfur no. 2 home heating oil. Blends above 20% may crystallize,
gel, and have flow problems in cold weather causing problems so 20% is
typically the maximum level of blend offered. There are additives that can help
it flow better. The cost for Bioheat blends is higher than for regular fuel oil
(or at least it was 10 years ago) – the higher the amount of biodiesel the
higher the cost relative to conventional oil. However, with the advantages in
efficiency and reduced maintenance costs there may be an overall cost advantage
to using bioheat blends. The effect of less soot buildup, lower maintenance
time and costs, and increased efficiency can be quite substantial for
industrial or commercial sized fuel oil boilers.
How does bioheat compare to ethanol? According to the heatingoil.com/Energy
Co-Op reference below:
“The energy content of ethanol is about 67 percent that of
gasoline. The energy content of biodiesel is about 90 percent that of petroleum
diesel. The amount of energy each returns differs greatly: Soybean biodiesel,
for example, returns 93% more energy than is used to produce it; corn grain
ethanol currently provides just 25% more energy.”
In comparing life-cycle carbon footprint analyses they also
note:
“In a life cycle analysis, which measures the time and
energy it takes to bring a product to market, biodiesel reduced carbon dioxide
emissions by up to 78%, compared to the carbon dioxide emissions of
conventional distillate fuel oil.”
Various states over the past decade have been enacting
standards that require home heating fuels to be blended with a certain amount
of biodiesel, typically 3-5 % but up to 20%.
For the typical home propane, or LP gas offers better prices,
environmental effects, and equipment maintenance issues than oil heat. LP gas
does require that fuel lines be installed, typically underground copper lines
and copper or steel lines distributed around the house to heaters and
appliances. It is more versatile in that respect than fuel oil, which is
typically only used for heat. Hot water heaters and some refrigerators can run
on propane as well. I have installed such an LP gas pipeline system in a house
that has been functional for nearly 20 years with low maintenance issues for two
or three unvented propane heaters and a cooking stove. The heat is high quality
(somewhat richer in BTU value than natural gas) although typically more
expensive than natural gas. Both oil heat and LP gas require outdoor tank
installations, but both also typically provide heat during a power outage which
can be an advantage in certain areas prone to outages. Propane is subject to
supply disruption in certain areas where local storage and winter need is not
well coordinated. With significant quantities of propane and some butane from
Appalachian and other shale gas fields and plans for more underground storage the
overall national and regional supply should be adequate for years to come,
including the increasing amounts being exported.
References:
www.mybioheat.com Bioheat Basics
The Massachusetts Bioheat Fuel Pilot Program – by Aceti Associates and
Industrial Economics, Inc., Final Summary Report, June 2007
Biofuel Heating Oil – by (accessed through The Energy Co-Op), from www.heatingoil.com, May 6, 2009
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