It’s hard to imagine how a soybean farmer could be so easily connected to the big city skyscrapers of New York City, but those very soybeans that once called rural dirt home are powering the buses, ferries and fire trucks and heating homes during the holiday season. 

Representatives of the Minnesota Soybean Research & Promotion Council (MSR&PC) had the opportunity to experience how their investments into biodiesel, renewable diesel and sustainable aviation fuel are being utilized in the Northeast during the Big Apple Tour Dec 15-18 hosted by Clean Fuels Alliance America (Clean Fuels). 

“We talked with folks from the city of New York and they are all in on biodiesel, which is great news for us,” said Chris Hill, who represents MSR&PC on the Clean Fuels board of directors. “If it can’t be electrified, they prefer to use biodiesel where they can.” 

Hill was joined by MSR&PC Director Ron Obermoller on the Big Apple Tour. The farmers from Brewster got a crash course how New York City implements biodiesel into their massive fleet of 900,000 vehicles, which includes everything from garbage trucks to fire trucks.  

“School buses alone they have nearly 10,000, so it’s hard to comprehend just how big of an operation they run,” said Obermoller, who also sits on the Minnesota Soybean Processors board of directors. “The people who work for the city were commenting on how much they enjoy biodiesel because when they go home at the end of the day, they don’t go home smelling like diesel fuel.” 

Obermoller and Hill also toured the National Oil Heat Research & Education Center (NORA) on Long Island, N.Y., which was established to provide research and development, carbon reduction, professional education and consumer education to provide more efficient, more reliable and lower carbon home heating and hot water in the liquid fuel industry. 

Heating up 

With more limited heating options in New York City and throughout the Northeast, Bioheat, which uses biodiesel as eco-friendly alternative to traditional home heating fuel, is becoming a major player in the heating market.  

“At one point the industry in that region was not very keen on biodiesel, but through some training, some research and education from the folks at NORA, they’ve come around,” Hill said. “Now one company of boiler heaters, Beckett, even comes from the factory B100 certified so that homeowners have the option to heat their homes with 100% biodiesel with no changes required.” 

Another stop on the Big Apple Tour was at Hart Home Comfort, one of the first suppliers of Bioheat on Long Island. On any given day, they deliver between 125,000-250,000 gallons of bioheat to homes and businesses in blends up to B50.  

Clean Fuels’ interest in the New York market is extending beyond the streets and neighborhoods and into the marina to explore options to reduce carbon emissions on the water. 

“They’re talking about using biodiesel in the Staten Island Ferry and other boats along the harbor,” Hill said. “The easiest way for them to decarbonize is to use biodiesel. It’s here, it’s now and it reduces carbon emissions effectively.” 

The Council is a member of Clean Fuels, which is an organization aimed at advancing the interests of its members by supporting sustainable biodiesel, renewable diesel and sustainable aviation fuel industry growth.