Talking Up Bioheat

Numerous members of the Connecticut Energy Marketers Association are expected to appear on Mission Possible, a podcast that CEMA recently launched in part to get the word out about biodiesel.

Calling the podcast “a great venue” for fuel retailers to talk about what they do, CEMA President Chris Herb said that the goal is to reinforce, with each episode, the transition that the industry is making. “Some of these companies are old enough that they can talk about the transition from coal to oil to ultra-low sulfur [heating fuel] and now to Bioheat,” Herb said. “Sadly enough, it continues to be true these days that Bioheat is still the best-kept secret in the energy industry.”

In contrast to Bioheat, electric heat pump technology has a disproportionate impact on low- and middle-income families, Herb said. The podcast is another opportunity for CEMA “to get that message out into the world so that people can start to hear about how they can achieve their environmental goals as a family – in their own heating system,” Herb said.

CEMA started polling customers a decade or more ago in relation to governments’ push for national gas, and more recently electrification. Results consistently show that about 75% of consumers want a cleaner fuel, Herb said. “That comes at a cost if it’s a transition to natural gas or electrifying your heating system. It doesn’t with our product,” he said. The same polls show that more than 80% “don’t want to pay a lot more,” Herb said. “We can deliver on our customers’ needs,” he said, “providing cleaner fuel without disproportionate impact on lower- and middle-income families.

“I would say that the penetration level, the awareness about the transition to Bioheat, is extremely low,” Herb said.

 “Our industry, very much so, has a bottom-up communications method where you have lots of retailers communicating with different voices in different places–and some not at all.  And then you have state trade associations that have limited resources.” Utilities communicate from the top down, with one voice, Herb observed.

Another complication is that the state sets the price of electricity and of natural gas, whereas supply and demand economics dictate what liquid heating fuel customers pay, Herb pointed out. For these and additional reasons, “Bioheat’s ability to be more well known when the government isn’t necessarily promoting it is at a huge disadvantage,” Herb said. He added, “People who are elected to office have a natural stage that the public is paying attention to.”

With the elections over, Herb reflected on what’s next. Environmental organizations and activists are already focusing on the state level. “We are seeing environmental organizations and regulators within government calling on legislators and the governor saying that climate will only get any attention if the states take action,” he said. “So, I think what you’re going to see is a real ramp up in activity, especially in the Northeast states and maybe the far west states.” Activists’ goal will be to adopt cap-and-trade programs and clean heat standards state-by-state, Herb said. — Stephen Bennett

Stephen Bennett is the editor of Fuel Oil News.