Biodiesel Study Looks at Home Heating Market

The company will study reaction and consumer choice when Biodiesel is offered at similar or slightly higher price levels than standard home heating oil.

"We are very pleased to work with (NYSERDA) on this project that will explore the use of alternative fuels," said Nicholas Cirillo, the president and CEO of Clickable Enterprises. "We have innovated a new selling process in the home heating oil business that has significantly reduced costs to our customers. We intend to continue to innovate not only in how we sell, but also in what we sell."

Several factors have recently changed the pricing dynamics of biodiesel as compared to traditional fuels such as oil, according to Clickable, including: recent tax incentives for biodiesel, rising world oil prices, uncertainty over regions from which the U.S. gets oil, a desire among U.S. citizens to choose reliable, domestic-sources of energy, and continued advancements in the volume, production and distribution of biodiesel. The U.S. Department of Agriculture estimates that the current volume of 30 million gallons of biodiesel sold in 2004 could increase to 124 million gallons sold annually in the coming years.

Clickable offers a biodiesel option to its customers, which is currently ranging between 4 cents and 5 cents per gallon above what the company is charging for standard home heating oil contracts. They use a 20 percent soy based fuel mix for their BioHeat option.

"We are very excited that our ability to leverage technology can reduce pricing, perhaps to the point where domestically produced, clean burning fuels can become a feasible option for consumers. We intend to be pioneers in the sales and delivery of traditional and alternative fuels as they become available," Cirillo said.