KITTERY - The Kittery Energy Committee is offering a chance to obtain a good price for home heating oil while working to lower carbon dioxide emissions with the Bioheat Co-op.
Bioheat is a blend of traditional #2 home heating oil and biodiesel, a renewable fuel made from various agricultural products such as soy, rapeseed, or tallow. It is often referred to as it's ratio of biodiesel to regular fuel. For example, B5 would be 5 percent biodiesel and 95 percent regular #2 heating oil. In the United States, biodiesel is primarily made from soy and used restaurant cooking oils.
The Bioheat that will be offered by the Kittery Energy Committee Bioheat Co-op will be from Simply Green, a Portsmouth, N.H.-based company with biofuel that comes from American-grown soy.
The committee is urging residents not to confuse soy-based biodiesel with corn-based ethanol. Soy biofuel is made in an entirely different way than corn ethanol, which must be distilled, requires huge amounts of energy and uses the entire corn cob.
Soy biodiesel is a byproduct of soy feed, so it is not competing with food stocks, according to information provided by the committee. The process of making biodiesel is significantly less energy-intensive than corn ethanol.
Using Bioheat requires no conversion or extra service work, explained Sarah Brown of the Kittery Energy Committee, adding that Simply Green will deliver bioheat just like any other home heating oil company.
For more details on the Kittery Energy Committee Bioheat Co-op, e-mail Sarah Brown at actionkittery@gwi.net or to Meredith Sudborough at sudborough@gmail.com.
