Serving The Deliverable Fuels Industry

Numerous members of the Connecticut Energy Marketers Association are expected to appear on Mission Possible , a podcast that CEMA recently launched in part to get the word out about biodiesel .

Calling the podcast “ a great venue ” for fuel retailers to talk about what they do , CEMA President Chris Herb said that the goal is to reinforce , with each episode , the transition that the

STEPHEN BENNETT industry is making . “ Some of these companies are old enough that they can talk about the transition from coal to oil to ultra-low sulfur [ heating fuel ] and now to Bioheat ,” Herb said . “ Sadly enough , it continues to be true these days that Bioheat is still the best-kept secret in the energy industry .”

In contrast to Bioheat , electric heat pump technology has a disproportionate impact on low- and middle-income families , Herb said . The podcast is another opportunity for CEMA “ to get that message out into the world so that people can start to hear about how they can achieve their environmental goals as a family – in their own heating system ,” Herb said .

CEMA started polling customers a decade or more ago in relation to governments ’ push for national gas , and more recently electrification . Results consistently show that about 75 % of consumers want a cleaner fuel , Herb said . “ That comes at a cost if it ’ s a transition to natural gas or electrifying your heating system . It doesn ’ t with our product ,” he said . The same polls show that more than 80 % “ don ’ t want to pay a lot more ,” Herb said . “ We can deliver on our customers ’ needs ,” he said , “ providing cleaner fuel without disproportionate impact on lowerand middle-income families .

“ I would say that the penetration level , the awareness about the transition to Bioheat , is extremely low ,” Herb said .

“ Our industry , very much so , has a bottom-up communications method where you have lots of retailers communicating with different voices in different places – and some not at all . And then you have state trade associations that have limited resources .”

Utilities communicate from the top down , with one voice , Herb observed . Another complication is that the state sets the price of electricity and of natural gas , whereas supply and demand economics dictate what liquid heating fuel customers pay , Herb pointed out . For these and additional reasons , “ Bioheat ’ s ability to be more well known when the government isn ’ t necessarily promoting it is at a huge disadvantage ,” Herb said . He added , “ People who are elected to office have a natural stage that the public is paying attention to .”

With the elections over , Herb reflected on what ’ s next . Environmental organizations and activists are already focusing on the state level . “ We are seeing environmental organizations and regulators within government calling on legislators and the governor saying that climate will only get any attention if the states take action ,” he said . “ So , I think what you ’ re going to see is a real ramp up in activity , especially in the Northeast states and maybe the far west states .” Activists ’ goals will be to adopt cap-and-trade and clean heat standards state by state , Herb said . l FON

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