NEWBURYPORT — Rob Germinara, owner of Germinara Oil in Newburyport, calls biofuel the "wave of the future."
Biofuel is an alternative biodegradable fuel created from recycled organic materials that is better for the environment and is an alternative to traditional home heating oil, according to the Germinara Web site.
Germinara Oil will begin to offer biofuel, also known as bioheat, on May 1, after more than a year of work by Germinara to bring the alternative energy fuel to the Newburyport area. Germinara said he began the project in January 2007 after hearing about the product for three or four years through fuel magazines and other New England companies that offer it.
"I believe this biofuel is one of largest untapped resources in the entire area," Germinara said. "It's of interest to people. I've had a great response so far. Newburyport is ready for it, and I know I'm ready. I'm anticipating this thing taking off like wildfire."
Germinara will use waste vegetable oil from area restaurants. He will then process the oil at his facilities and turn it into biofuel, which will be mixed with regular home heating oil. Germinara said he also has a plan in place to receive waste vegetable oil from places all over New England.
Germinara said he is behind biofuel 100 percent because of what it offers for the environment. His Web site lists the many benefits of biofuel, which include lower CO2 emissions, a cleaner and safer environment, improved efficiency of heating and a similar cost to regular home heating oil. Biofuel also works with all current heating systems, with only one drawback — the oil tank cannot be outside.
The form of biofuel Germinara will offer is known as B5, a mixture of 5 percent biofuel and 95 percent regular home heating oil. Germinara will start his biofuel business by offering only the B5 mixture, but his goal is to eventually sell the B20 biofuel mixture, which he said can reduce emissions by 75 percent in every household.
Since January 2007, Germinara has also been building his fleet of trucks while increasing his tank storage capacity in anticipation of selling biofuel. He is permitted to store 83,000 gallons of biofuel and predicts that he can reprocess over a million gallons of waste vegetable oil in just one year.
Germina also predicts that his biofuel business will grow rapidly over the next five years, and he will likely need a larger facility as he has already received a great response from the community.
Germinara will also continue to offer heating oil without biofuel added, but his ultimate goal is to sell the mixture of biofuel and home heating oil at a lower price.
"Hey, if you can buy something that is less expensive than home heating oil and is better for the environment and makes equipment run cleaner, why wouldn't you do it?" he asked. "I believe in my heart going green on everything is the wave of the future. If I can do my small part with home heating oil, so be it."
