Any business owner would be happy to get into a new market. If that new market was knocking on your front door asking for your product, it would seem like a no-brainer. This is exactly the situation that the biodiesel industry is facing with Bioheat. Oilheat dealers have come to the biodiesel industry asking for their product in order to re-identify their business as a cost competitive, clean burning, domestic choice for home heating.

In June, state soybean leaders from the Midwest traveled to Boston for the “East Meets West” Boston Bioheat Tour. The goal was to give the group a firsthand look at the Bioheat industry. What this group of farmer-leaders got was not only a technical understanding of Bioheat as a fuel but also the needs of the Oilheat industry to transform itself.

The National Oilheat Research Alliance is a collaborative program established by the oilheat industry to strengthen the industry by improving education and training for employees, providing customers more information, and developing new products for customers. NORA functions as the trade association for the oilheat industry, and has the task of moving the industry into a new age at this critical time.

The oilheat industry is often thought of as old, dirty technology. Its main competitor is natural gas, an industry that is perceived as a cheaper and cleaner technology. This is why NORA with the oilheat industry is knocking on biodiesel’s door. Oilheat can use biodiesel, a cleaner burning fuel.

If the current oilheat market were using a 20 percent blend of biodiesel in all home heating oil, it would provide a 1.4 billion gallon market for B100. The biodiesel industry needs to support NORA and the Bioheat industry now more than ever because their survival as an industry is dependent on change. The biodiesel industry shouldn’t turn away customers who are knocking on their door.