Texas energy emergency brings clean, renewable, reliable energy source into national spotlight

As Texas endures the greatest energy insecurity in recent history, the renewable liquid heating fuel industry is offering America a viable, clean fuel that can be utilized as part of the U.S. energy mix to relieve pressure on an overstretched electrical grid, keeping the heat and lights on into the coming decades.

Renewable liquid heating fuel is a blend of traditional heating oil and biodiesel, a low-carbon replacement for heating oil that is produced from used cooking oil, animal fats and agricultural byproducts or coproducts. These low-carbon fuels reduce lifecycle greenhouse gases on average from 73 to 80 percent.

“Here in Vermont, many homeowners that have an electric air-source heat pump received an email warning on Feb. 12 that that their utility will ‘manage’ the device remotely to lower energy consumption during peak demand,” said Matt Cota, executive director of the Vermont Fuel Dealers Association. “We have witnessed tremendous growth in wind, solar, hydroelectricity, biomass, renewable liquid, and gaseous fuels over the past decade. Each fuel source has advantages and disadvantages and should be allowed to compete in the marketplace.”

The home heating fuel industry is made up of mostly small, multigenerational, main street businesses, and has been successfully keeping people in the Northeast and across the country warm and comfortable for decades.

“As an industry, we’ve been working on transitioning to biofuels for years,” said Charlie Uglietto, a National Energy & Fuels Institute member and president of Cubby Oil and Energy. “The situation in Texas further underscores our need for reliable, renewable, and diversified fuel sources like the biofuels we offer. We have a product that can meet the expanding needs of our country, while also drastically reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. We have been advocating for many years to be included in the national discussion on energy mix. Our hope is that now someone will finally listen. We are part of the solution to climate change.”

The renewable liquid heating fuel industry continues to work with state and federal lawmakers and policymakers to position low-carbon liquid fuels as an immediate solution to reducing GHG emissions and a key energy source to avoid situations like the one in Texas in the future.