As the name implies, BioDiesel is a clean-burning, renewable fuel produced from domestic crops like soybeans, sunflower and canola. It can also be made from recycled cooking oil. When used to heat homes, BioDiesel is typically mixed with #2 Fuel Oil. A blend of 5% BioDiesel with 95% #2 Fuel Oil, for example, is known as B5.

Here at the Co-op, we began experimenting with BioDiesel blends in the summer of 2005. However, we lacked the storage tanks and heating systems required to allow us to deliver BioDiesel blends year-round.

In the fall of 2006, we were delighted when the owner of our Essex Junction terminal began construction for a heated, 10,000 gallon BioDiesel tank and all the necessary pipes, valves and meters. And on June 2, 2007, we began delivering some BioHeat (5% biodiesel/95% #2 Fuel Oil) to our customers and members supplied from this terminal.) That fall and winter we also delivered B20 (20% biodiesel/80% #2 Fuel Oil) to 20 Co-op members living in Essex Junction.

In the years ahead, we expect to deliver more and more BioDiesel blends, making a small contribution to energy independence and the fight against climate change.

To keep up to date with BioDiesel activity in Vermont, visit the Vermont Biofuels Association website at www.vermontbiofuels.org. For national developments, go to the National BioDiesel Board's website at www.biodiesel.org.

About 50% of the oil we now deliver to our members and customers is cleaner-burning, ultra low-sulfur fuel oil.

Ultra low-sulfur fuel oil has 99% less sulfur than the regular, high-sulfur fuel oil (15 ppm compared with 2,000 ppm) and burns cleaner and more efficiently. When the environmental costs of different fuels are compared, ultra low-sulfur fuel oil compares favorably with natural gas, which is often touted as a "clean" fuel.

There are additional benefits. Operating costs are lower with ultra low-sulfur fuel oil, since heating systems burning ultra low-sulfur oil require less routine maintenance and experience fewer service problems.

Further information on low-sulfur fuel oil (500 ppm sulfur) is available from Brookhaven National Laboratory (link is a 176K Word document) and the National OilHeat Research Alliance (link will open a PDF)