Oil offers secure, clean heat

More than 8,000 people work in the heating oil business in Maine. The headline “Oil and Winter Don’t Mix” on a Nov. 14 BDN editorial, while clever, belies the fact that hardworking Maine men and women in the heating oil business have been keeping Maine families safe and warm for close to a century.

For generations, heating oil has been and continues to be a reliable and respectable way to heat the Maine home. It is an industry that has promoted conservation, better home construction standards, advanced heating system technology, and cleaner burning fuel formulas, including bioheat – heating oil blended with biodegradable, organic materials. All of these efforts have reduced heating oil’s carbon footprint and saved millions of dollars for its customers who today enjoy more heat from fewer gallons of fuel.

Regarding the latest fads in burning reconstituted wood waste, there are several serious questions that the editorial did not answer. Energy independence is a worthwhile and lofty goal and the state is obligated to look out for its residents. But it is premature to encourage customers to abandon home heating solutions that are proven performers. In fact, recent advances in heating oil technology and the mainstreaming of biofuels position our industry as the future for clean and efficient home heating.

Oil heat is reliable and available. A recent news article noted that burnable bricks made from sawdust are flying off the shelves and the likelihood that supplies can cover demand – even in the product’s introductory phase – is in question. Betting the farm on a fuel fad is simply not a prudent option.

Then there’s the question of air pollution. When graphing the particulate and carbon dioxide emissions of a number of heating fuels – heating oil, natural gas, propane, coal and electricity – firewood is generally left off the chart because its emissions are too high to fit. A recent Maine Air Toxics Initiative final report, produced by the Maine Department of Environmental Protection and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, says that residential wood burning is responsible for 100 percent of the Maine air toxics produced from residential combustion sources. Home heating oil, present in 80 percent of Maine homes, accounts for zero percent. Perhaps bricks and pellets of sawdust burn more cleanly than firewood – without data we do not know – but our guess is that they would have a very long way to go to compare with the cleanliness of oil.

Moreover, waste wood fuels incur a significant carbon footprint even before they wind up in the wood stove. Harvesting, transportation, manufacturing, processing – energy is used at many stops along the way to the Maine consumer.

Yes, heating oil prices are at historical highs. Industry experts agree that has more to do with commodity traders on Wall Street driving up the cost of crude oil than anything else. The Maine Oil Dealers Association has been working closely with our congressional delegation and the governor’s office to end this market manipulation by Wall Street profiteers. History also shows that the price of any commodity can fall just as dramatically as it rose.

High oil and gas prices are a drag on the economy. They threaten Maine residents (our customers) and oil dealers alike. Remember, your local oil dealer buys wholesale and sells retail. Most of the cost of your heating oil is built into the price long before your local distributor ever takes hold of the product.

But at the end of the day, oil heat is still the safe bet for reliable, clean heat. Will today’s fads be the standard in 30 years, or will they read like a 1970s clothing catalog? When it comes to mixing heating oil with winter, the product has been the best value for Maine homeowners for decades, contributing immensely to the quality of life Maine people enjoy. Gambling on the latest waste wood scheme could be quite a chilling experience.

Jamie Py is president of the Maine Oil Dealers Association.