Biofuel

Biofuel in Westchester & Putnam Counties

Clean, Renewable Energy for Your Home 

Robison provides clean, renewable biofuel heating oil delivery to Westchester and Putnam Counties. Our biofuel blend is biodegradable, nontoxic, and free of sulfur. Biofuel helps reduce carbon emissions and our dependency on foreign oil.

The biofuel heating oil Robison delivers is 100% compatible with your current oil storage tank and heating equipment. Our friendly and professional staff is happy to answer any questions you may have regarding clean-burning biofuel, as well as our biofuel delivery services. 

We are available 24/7 to assist you. 

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Call (914) 345-5700or contact us onlineto learn more about our biofuel delivery services in Westchester and Putnam Counties. Hablamos español.

What Is Biofuel?

Biofuel is a blend made with heating oil and biodiesel. Biodiesel is made with vegetable oil, such as soybean and palm oil, with 90% regular heating oil. Biodiesel burns cleaner than regular diesel and is considered to be a renewable source of energy. Biodiesel also reduces the United States’ dependence on foreign oil, because biofuel is made with corn or soybeans grown in the U.S.A.

Biofuel heating oil also has another practical advantage for the average homeowner. Using biofuel heating oil may prolong the life of your heating system because it burns cleaner than traditional heating oil. This means that your heating equipment is better protected against routine wear-and-tear, as well as various other issues that can arise with any system. 

What Are the Benefits of Using Biofuel? 

At Robison, we use a B20 bio-blend biofuel heating oil called Bioheat®. Endorsed by the Oilheat Manufacturers Association and the National Oilheat Research Alliance, Bioheat® has many proven benefits.

Some of the many benefits of Bioheat® biofuel include: 

  • Cost-Efficiency: The cost of Bioheat® is very similar to traditional heating oil and even slightly lower.
  • Environmentally Friendly: Although home heating oil is already a clean-burning, low-sulfur fuel, biodiesel blends offer an even safer alternative that’s renewable, biodegradable, and non-toxic.
  • Air Quality: Bioheat® offers reduced toxic gas emissions compared to petroleum diesel. In 2002, the EPA’s Comprehensive Analysis of Biodiesel Impacts on Exhaust Emissions determined that the impact of biodiesel on heavy-duty engines amounted to as much as a 50% reduction in carbon monoxide and an almost 70% reduction of hydrocarbons. According to the EPA’s Renewable Fuel Standards Program in 2010, biodiesel from soy oil reduced greenhouse gases by 57%.
  • Positive Energy Balance (“Fossil Fuel Ratio”): Bioheat® has a positive energy balance of 5.54 to 1, which means that every unit of fossil energy used to produce biodiesel returns 5.54 units of renewable energy.
  • Reduced Nitrous Oxide: Biodiesel offers higher cetane levels for more efficient ignition. 
  • Renewable: Bioheat® is a renewable energy source that reduces global warming gas emissions.
  • High BTU Content: Bioheat® has the highest British Thermal Unit (BTU) content for any alternative fuel, containing 11% oxygen by weight.
  • Virtually Sulfur Free: Bioheat® contains no nitrogen or offensive odors. When one uses biodiesel, nitric oxide, carbon monoxide, hydrocarbons, sulfur, and particulate matter are reduced. B20 blends reduce CO2 emissions by 15.66%. Pure biodiesel would reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 78%, nitrated PAHs by 80%, unburned hydrocarbons by 67%, carbon monoxide by 48%, particulate matter by 47%, and sulfates by an impressive 100%.
  • Enhanced Health and Safety: Bioheat® passes the EPA’s Tier 1 and 2 health effects. The biodiesel Tier 2 testing reported no significant exposure-related effects on food consumption, mortality, neuropathology, reproduction, or ophthalmology.
  • Suitable for Sensitive Environments: Bioheat® is non-toxic and is suitable for environments with children, seniors, and pets. Bioheat® also requires a higher temperature to ignite and burn than heating oil does.
  • Works With Current Equipment: Bioheat® requires no equipment modifications or retrofitting and will work with standard oil heating equipment, boilers, and diesel generators. Performance and properties are the same as current heating oil. In fact, Underwriters Laboratories Inc. (UL) formally announced that equipment intended for Bioheat® complies with ASTM fuel standards.
  • High Lubricity: Bioheat® may have lubricating properties that can extend equipment life and require less equipment maintenance. It may also reduce HC, PM, and CO in existing diesel engines. Because biodiesel contains no sulfur, it can be added to ultra-low sulfur diesel to assist with lubrication.
  • Reduces Dependence on Foreign Oil: Bioheat® is made domestically from recycled and renewable resources, reducing U.S. dependence on foreign oil. Domestic production, as of 2011, created more than 31,000 jobs for the U.S. economy, generating income of approximately $1.7 billion. This translated to billions in GDP and $345 million in federal tax revenues. There are currently over 200 biodiesel plants around the country producing a total of over three billion gallons of biofuel. The industry now supports more than 62,000 jobs. Production increased from 25 million gallons in the early 2000s to 1.7 billion gallons of biofuel in 2014. This number is still a small percentage of the on-road diesel and oil heating market of 35 to 40 billion gallons, but the industry has a goal of producing 10% of the diesel transportation and heating by 2022.
  • Increases Food: In 2010, the U.S. biodiesel produced from soybean oil produced soybean meal for 57 billion servings of protein used in global hunger programs. As demand for soybean oil to create Bioheat® increases, the cost of purchasing soybeans declines. This means healthier proteins for an increasing world population.

Under the Renewable Fuel Standard 2 (RFS2), the U.S. EPA declared biodiesel an “advanced biofuel.” Such fuels are produced on existing land and meet the minimum threshold of an over 50% reduction in lifecycle carbon emissions compared to petro-diesel.

A byproduct of food production, biodiesel provides an 80% reduction in lifecycle CO2 emissions. Increasing soybean production to meet the demand for biodiesel helps meet our energy and food needs without drilling or using new land.

With the EPA’s commitment to safe and renewable fuel alternatives, biodiesel and Bioheat® production should continue to increase. With the oil heat industry distributing roughly seven billion gallons of heating oil, replacing standard oil with B20 oil could use up to 350 million gallons of domestically-produced Biodiesel. Blending seamlessly with heating oil, Bioheat® offers greater benefits for human health, performance, and energy security, reducing our dependence on foreign oil, as well as our carbon footprint.

Biofuel & Tax Credits

The biofuel heating oil delivered by Robison costs about the same as regular heating oil, so what are the economic advantages of using biofuel heating oil? One of the main advantages is that New York State offers a tax incentive for families who use biofuel heating oil.

The state offers a 20-cent-per-gallon tax credit to people who use B20 biofuel heating oil. Thanks to this tax credit, Robison customers can save $200 on every 1,000 gallons of biofuel heating oil purchased. 

This current tax credit applies to all biofuel heating oil purchased before January 1, 2026. 

Bio-blend biofuel heating oil qualifies for the New York tax credit. At Robison, we deliver a B20 bio-blend, which qualifies for New York State’s biofuel tax credit.

How to File for Your Tax Credit

To properly compute the amount of credit allowed, the taxpayer should have an invoice or bill that includes the following information: 

  • Date of purchase
  • Number of gallons of bio-blend heating oil purchased 
  • The percentage of biodiesel included in the bio-blend (a B20 blend contains 20% biodiesel) 

To receive a tax credit, you should file a Claim for Clean Heating Fuel Credit along with your tax return. Residential taxpayers should file Form IT-241, and corporate taxpayers should file Form CT-241. 

To learn more about our biofuel delivery services in Westchester and Putnam Counties, contact us online or call (914) 345-5700 today. 

Biofuel FAQ

To learn more about biofuel, review our frequently asked questions below.

  • What is biofuel heating oil?

    Biofuel is a cleaner-burning alternative fuel produced from any fat or vegetable oil, such as soybean oil. It contains no petroleum, but it can be mixed with petroleum heating oil to create a biofuel blend. Biofuel is simple to use, biodegradable, nontoxic, essentially free of sulfur, and reduces carbon emission.

  • Why use biofuel heating oil?

    There are many important reasons for our country to be using biofuels. Biofuels, such as bio heating oil, are made from domestically produced, renewable resources, reducing our dependence on imported oil and improving our energy security and balance of trade. Because biofuels contain no sulfur, they create fewer emissions than fossil fuels and they contribute virtually no carbon dioxide to the atmosphere, which is important for reducing the buildup of greenhouse gases.

  • Will I need to make changes to my heating equipment or storage tank?

    No, biofuel will not cause problems for your current equipment or storage tank. In fact, it may be a benefit! Bio heating oil actually burns cleaner with less soot and particulates.

  • Is biofuel heating oil expensive?

    The price of bio heating oil is virtually the same as conventional home heating oil. In addition, there are tax incentives for using bio heating oil.

  • Can I get a fixed price on bio heating oil?

    Yes, Robison offers the same pricing options as conventional heating oil.

  • Does biofuel reduce the heating capabilities of the equipment?

    While BioHeat® blends of up to B20 (20%) may slightly lower the BTU capacity of a gallon of heating oil, our BioHeat® fuel is comprised of ultra-low sulfur heating oil for cleaner and more efficient burning. Not only does this reduce the need for heating system maintenance, but it also improves energy efficiency. To ensure the best performance, we also treat our BioHeat® fuel with HeatDoc™, a field-proven proprietary fuel conditioner.

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