Mark Fitz says biodiesel is heating up home heating oil business at StarOilCo.

Home heating oil tanks could be making a comeback with help from biodiesel.

No longer just the remains of an outdated 19th century heat source, oil tanks are starting to be selected for new construction projects and homeowners are changing their minds about having tanks decommissioned, according to Laurelhurst Oil’s Tom Marier. Part of the reason is a growing interest in biodiesel.

Not just for cars and trucks anymore, biodiesel is making headway in the home heating oil market. According to the National Biodiesel Board, 7.7 million homes in the United States used oil to heat their homes in 2000 — nearly 6.7 billion gallons for the season. While the market is largest in the Northeast (69 percent of homes using oil heat), milder winter temperatures in large portions of the Northwest allow biodiesel to be blended in higher percentages. Biodiesel tends to freeze at warmer temperatures than petroleum diesel, making it difficult for oil heat users in colder places — say, Minnesota — to use blends well above 20 or 30 percent, Marier said.

Seattle-based Laurelhurst Oil introduced its Bioheat program in September and consumers have responded quickly, filling up tanks with 20 and 30 percent biodiesel blends. About 20 percent of home heating oil customers chose biodiesel in Laurelhurst’s first year, and Marier said there’s room for the market to grow.

In addition to a growing interest in the renewable fuel across the Northwest, liquid fuel furnace makers are getting in on the action as well. The Webster Co., which manufactures fuel pumps for liquid fuel furnaces, recently released a product warranteed for 100 percent biodiesel.

Esse, a 150-year old company from the United Kingdom, and Kuma, a manufacturer out of Idaho, are both testing oil-fired stoves for B99 (99 percent biodiesel, 1 percent petro-diesel), said Mark Fitz, owner of Star Oilco in Portland.

“In the trade literature, there’s a lot of talk about biodiesel,” Fitz said. “Pick up Fuel Oil News, and they’ve got advertisements that say stuff like ...‘works well with biodiesel blends.’ That’s something you never would have seen a few years ago.”