REG Developing Distilled Biodiesel

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REG will soon be bringing distilled biodiesel to distribution points in the Northeast market, said Barry Knox, director of blended fuel sales.

Distilled biodiesel has lower carbon intensity (CI) than non-distilled biodiesel and much lower CI than petroleum diesel, Knox said during a recent webinar co-hosted by REG and Fuel Oil News. Knox said CI is an important standard that is now being specified by municipalities and in RFPs from large corporate buyers. Its attributes include superior cold-weather performance. It is the purest form of biodiesel and blends easily with petroleum molecules, Knox said during the webinar and in an REG newsletter, “Let’s Blend,” published online in September.

As a developer of distilled biodiesel from inedible feedstocks, REG sees distilled biodiesel as an important product for superior cold-weather performance in the Northeast. “If you need lower cloud, you can use the distilled product, which offers better winter operability and reduces carbon intensity,” Knox said.
The webinar was presented to help heating oil marketers understand how biodiesel can help them grow their business. Knox said the decision to sell Bioheat® fuel is like any other business decision a marketer might face. “Does this product give me the deliverable I am looking for?” he asked. “Does it promote positive economics for me? Where and how do I get it into my supply chain?”

As a member of the New York Clean Cities Coalition, REG is working with New York City council members to promote the use of biodiesel through new city laws, the company’s newsletter also reported.

Anthony Fiore, director of energy regulatory affairs for the city, said that 31 million liters of biofuel were consumed in buildings in New York City in 2013, according to the REG newsletter, resulting in greenhouse gas emission reductions of 84,000 metric tons—the equivalent of removing almost 17,700 passenger vehicles from the road. This consumption and reduction can be directly attributed to NYC Local Law 43, which requires all heating oil sold in the city to contain a minimum 2 percent biofuel component, the newsletter reported.

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City Council Member Costa Constantinides, who chairs the Council’s Environmental Protection Committee, last year proposed two new laws to increase the use of biodiesel. One would raise biofuel requirements for residences and school buses to B5 by October 2016 and to B20 by 2030, according to the REG newsletter.

An increase in New York City to using B5 biodiesel blends in heating oil would increase regional biodiesel demand from about 20 million gallons to 50 million, REG said in the newsletter. Using B20 could increase demand in New York City by 150 to 170 million gallons, REG said in its newsletter. REG said it was confident in its ability to meet that demand, especially if the increase is accomplished in five-year increments.

REG operates out of six petroleum terminal locations in the New York metropolitan area, as well as one blended fuel terminal, the New Hyde Park Oil Terminal, in New Hyde Park, on Long Island.

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