JEFFERSON CITY, MO -- New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg yesterday signed into law an air quality bill that includes a provision to ensure that cleaner burning Bioheat® is used within the city for heating homes and buildings.
Starting in October 2012, all heating oil sold within New York City will contain at least 2 percent biodiesel. The blend is known as Bioheat, a green fuel that is gaining popularity in Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic states.
“New York City consumes 1 billion gallons of heating oil annually, more than any other city in the United States,” said City Councilman James F. Gennaro, who sponsored the legislation. “This will annually replace 20 million gallons of petroleum with an equal volume of renewable, sustainable, domestically produced biodiesel. We are already home to what will be the largest biodiesel processing facility in the country as well as a growing grease collection industry, and we expect to see more green collar jobs and green economic growth as a result of our legislation.”
The visionary Bioheat legislation also limits sulfur in petroleum-based heating oil, and was supported by Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Speaker Christine Quinn, among others.
The National Biodiesel Board hailed the new law as groundbreaking municipal policy.
“New York City is already the nation’s largest municipal user of biodiesel. We applaud the Mayor and City Council for building on that legacy by adopting a universal biodiesel requirement that will further improve air quality in the city,” said Shelby Neal, NBB’s director of state governmental affairs. “I would especially like to thank Councilman Gennaro, who has been a tireless advocate for this and other important environmental issues. His vision for a cleaner burning, green, and sustainable heating fuel is being realized.”
As with many other similar initiatives to reduce emissions in the City of New York, NBB member Sprague Energy, a biodiesel and petroleum distributor located in New York State, helped champion the legislation.
“As one of New York’s original biodiesel and Bioheat suppliers, we know firsthand what a positive impact the fuels have on the lives of New Yorkers,” said Steven J. Levy, managing director of Sprague Energy. “This landmark legislation is another huge step in reducing air pollution in the city, yet just another building block in cleaning the air we breathe for healthier, longer lives.”
Levy thanked Mayor Bloomberg for his insight and Councilman Gennaro for his tireless efforts as Chairperson of the Environmental Protection Committee.
NBB member METRO Fuel Oil Corp., a large fuel distributor located in the New York City area, is scheduled to open one of the country’s largest biodiesel plants in Brooklyn in 2011.
“More than 70 years ago, my grandmother started a heating oil business here because she thought coal represented the past,” said Paul Pullo, who owns METRO Terminals along with his brother, Gene. “With biodiesel, America’s only commercially available advanced biofuel, we will take our business into the next generation again.”
METRO plans on processing used cooking oil from restaurants in New York City into biodiesel. The company says it will also use other sustainable resources, such as soybean oil and algae.
Biodiesel, an advanced biofuel for diesel engines and boilers, reduces America’s dependency on foreign oil, improves air quality and protects the environment.
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