Sprague Energy of West Harrison Promotes Biodiesel Fuel

New York State consumes roughly 20 percent of the petroleum distillate used in the United States, and has close to a billion-gallon demand for diesel fuel annually—according to BioGenset, a pilot program partially funded by the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) and aided by the New York City and Lower Hudson Valley Clean Cities.

Diesel generator owners and operators—including private businesses, maintenance contractors, schools, hospitals, municipalities, utilities, and public buildings—who want to be a part of improving these numbers, can now participate in a pilot program being run and promoted by the West Harrison-based Sprague Energy Corp. and the Santa Barbara, Calif.-based Biodiesel Industries.

“The initiative is to promote the use of biodiesels in generators,” said Steven J. Levy, managing director at Sprague Energy’s local office (which is located in West Harrison). “To reduce engine emissions and clean the air.”

Sprague Energy was chosen to help with the BioGenset program earlier this year. They are one of the largest commercial sellers of fuel in the Northeast, Levy said, and they were the first certified BQ-9000 marketer recognized by the National Biodiesel Board.

What the pilot program is actually promoting is a five percent blend of biodiesel—usually used cooking oil—and traditional petroleum diesel fuel. According to BioGenset, the use of a five percent blend in generators has the potential to annually eliminate 110,000 tons of carbon emissions in New York and displace 13.6 million gallons of imported petroleum.

Those who participate in the pilot program can have a B5 blend biofuel delivered at competitive rates. Program inspectors will visit to make sure that your equipment is running smoothly on the fuel, which also acts as a cleansing agent to remove old petroleum deposits that have built up. Organizations involved will also be promoted as program dparticipants on the program's website.

Levy, who is also president of New York City and Lower Hudson Valley Clean Cities, is getting the word out about BioGenset’s “coming out party,” a conference to be held on June 9 at Bronx Community College. 

The Bronx site was chosen as a convenient location for people from northern suburbs as well as New York City, Levy said. Among generator users, Levy pointed out that there are three main applications for generator use: there are emergency generators that kick in when the power goes out in a commercial or other building; there are buildings that use power generation as their primary energy source to produce electricity; and there are mobile generators that organizations use for special events or that production companies use for movie shoots, for example.

Levy said that Sprague markets it as a transportation fuel, emergency generator fuel, as well as a home heating fuel. There are no additional costs currently, he added, and in some cases it might be even cheaper than traditional diesel.

“We’re in a volatile time right now,” Levy said, “but the good news is that there are no increased costs.”

Trey Teall, technical director for Biodiesel Industries (the company is in the process of changing its name to BIODICO), said his company will be attending the conference and will be looking to “educate people on the technical aspects of what they can expect from biodiesel use.”

Teall said that air quality and odor improvements, not to mention costs, are some of the benefits that his group will be talking about. He also said that engine function can be improved because of better lubricity with a biodiesel blend.

The pilot program is “open-ended,” Teall said, though they hope to sign people up early and often.

“We’re hoping one tank-full and they’ll be hooked,” he said.

To participate in the BioGenset program, or for more information on the June 9 conference at Bronx Community College, email info@biogenset.com or slevy@spragueenergy.com.