It might be hard to connect agriculture to the hustle and bustle of New York City, but one stroll through downtown, and you’ll be quickly reminded of its important role in reducing carbon emissions by powering buses, fire trucks and ferries as well as heating homes during the Northeast’s cold, snowy winters.  

Representatives of the Wisconsin Soybean Marketing Board (WSMB) had the opportunity to make that connection firsthand during Clean Fuels Alliance America’s Big Apple Tour Dec. 15-18.  

“It was a great chance for our farmers to get out to the East Coast, see their investments in action and hear directly from the industry folks who are supporting the biodiesel, renewable diesel and sustainable aviation fuel market,” said Adam Kask, WSMB executive director. 

Participants in the Big Apple Tour, which also included WSMB District 1 Director Andy Bensend, kicked off the trip with a stop at the New York City administrative building, where they visited with fleet managers who use biodiesel wherever possible in their massive fleet of 900,000 city vehicles to reduce their carbon footprint.  

“Their cop cars, their ambulances and fire trucks, their buses, all of their off-road equipment…they’re running biodiesel in most of it,” said Bensend, who farms in northwest Wisconsin. “Because of their sheer size, New York has become a leader in the biodiesel industry.” 

Next on the visit was a stop at the National Oil Heat Research & Education Center (NORA) on Long Island, 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. 

“They do a great job with quality testing and making sure that this biodiesel is performing the way it’s supposed to be, as well advocating and informing about the benefits of using biodiesel, or Bioheat, as a home heating source,” Bensend said. “What we heard from their testing lab was that soybeans were by far the premier feedstock for making a consistent, high performing product.”  

With limited heating options in the Northeast, Bioheat has become a popular low carbon, safer option for people to heat their homes and businesses. One of the first suppliers of Bioheat on Long Island, Hart Home Comfort, delivers on average between 125,000–250,000 gallons of Bioheat a day in blends of up to B50. 

After seeing the impact of biodiesel in New York, as well as in neighboring Minnesota over the years, Bensend says it’s time Wisconsin starts following suit.  

“One of the first things we need to do is reeducate our consumers and let them know biodiesel and renewable diesel are products that perform in every way equal to petroleum–based diesel fuel,” Bensend said. “This trip was time well spent because it allowed me to understand better what some of the challenges and opportunities are in the biofuels industry, and at the end of the day that’s what these checkoff dollars are meant to do: to try to develop new uses, increase markets and communicate effectively with our farmers, whose money it really is, what we’re trying to accomplish in making the soybean industry more robust.” 

WSMB 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.