Greatness for our industry means evolving fuels that meet the environmental, technical, and consumer expectations of the next fifty years.

PRINCIPLES OF TRANSFORMATION

Two frameworks shape this journey:

• Jim Collins’“ 20 Mile March”— progress requires disciplined consistency, not stop-and-go reactions to policy or price swings.

• Daniel Burrus’ Anticipatory Leadership— success comes from anticipating disruption and aligning early with hard trends, not scrambling to react.

Industry figures recognized as Legends at a banquet during the HEAT Show, from left: Kevin Beckett, president and CEO, R. W. Beckett Corp.; Dr. Thomas Butcher, director, NORA Laboratory; Peter Aziz, president and CEO, Valiant Energy Solutions; and Richard Goldberg, president, Warm Thoughts Communications. Not pictured is Legends honoree Erik Slifka, president and CEO, Global Companies. The Jack Sullivan Award went to Charlie Uglietto( far right), owner, Cubby Oil & Energy. Credit: David A. Heiser, PriMedia, Inc./ NEFI

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THE SAFE CHOICE FOR BIOFUEL BLENDS

FROM SKEPTICISM TO MOMENTUM

What began as small pilot projects has become a revolution in basements and boiler rooms across the Northeast. Industry pioneers— Ed Burke, John Huber, Dan Gilligan, Charlie Downing, Don Farrell, Kevin Beckett, Tom Butcher, and many others— took the steady march when skepticism was high and confidence was low. Their persistence laid the foundation of today’ s Bioheat success story. Twenty years of rigorous testing, ASTM validation, and dealer education turned doubt into trust. Today, when homeowners ask if Bioheat is safe for their tanks, the answer is grounded in decades of science, not speculation.

EXPANDING THE HORIZON

Heating oil was the proving ground, but the opportunity is far larger. Marine, rail, and aviation sectors face decarbonization pressures that liquid fuels are uniquely positioned to meet.

• Hard trends: Ships, planes, and trains will continue to rely on dense liquid fuels for decades; pressure to decarbonize will only intensify.

• Soft trends: Which fuels win depends on the choices we make today. The Human Dimension Behind every gallon is a story. Farmers see the value of their crops multiplied through biodiesel. Families heat homes with renewable fuels that lower emissions without changing equipment. Dealers differentiate themselves as leaders, not laggards. Consumers, increasingly conscious of their carbon footprint, want to be part of the solution. That’ s why storytelling matters as much as science. Numbers inform; stories inspire. Every dealer, distributor, policymaker, and farmer is a storyteller of progress.

CALL TO ACTION

The industry stands at a crossroads:

• Retreat into irrelevance, or seize relevance through leadership.

• Sprint and collapse, or march with discipline and endurance.

• React to disruption, or anticipate and harness it. The choice is clear. The transition to low-carbon fuels is not happening to us— it is happening through us. Every gallon blended, every tank treated, every customer educated is a step in the 20-mile march toward relevance and leadership. If history is written by the doers, then this industry has the opportunity to be the author of one of America’ s greatest energy stories.

In closing, Nazzaro said,“ What was once impossible has become inevitable— because we chose to march, to anticipate, to tell the story, and to do the work. That is our legacy to claim.” l FON

12 OCTOBER 2025 | FUEL OIL NEWS | www. fueloilnews. com