CONWAY - Jesse E. Lyman Inc., a fuel oil and heating service business with a 75-year history in the community, is in the midst of a "rebirth," says General Manager Peter Donohoe.  The company is going "green" with an emphasis on biodiesel products. Customers can still heat their homes with "traditional" fuel oil if they wish, but they also have the option now of using bioheat, a fuel blend that is partially derived from soy plants grown in the United States.

Jesse E. Lyman is also switching to biodiesel at two sites where the company supplies diesel fuel for vehicles: Wildcat Service Station in Jackson and Redstone Variety in Conway.
And to prove the viability of these products, Jesse E. Lyman is using biodiesel in its own vehicles and bioheat in its buildings.
"In a lot of ways, we're the same old company," Donohoe says. "But this initiative is a rebirth - a refocus of our approach."
Biodiesel burns cleaner than conventional fuel, which not only helps the environment but also helps heating systems run more efficiently. And because it is domestically produced, biodiesel lessens dependency on foreign crude oil.

"As an oil retailer, we are part of the problem," Donohoe says. "But we are also in the best position to be part of the solution. As a nation, we have been leaders in so many different ways in how we live and how we conduct ourselves. I think as a nation, the responsibility is for us as business leaders to embrace change and embrace things that have a positive effect on all of us."
The one drawback that Donohoe sees to biodiesel is cost. The Lyman biodiesel used in vehicles is about 10 cents per gallon more than straight diesel. Biodiesel used for heating is about 5 cents per gallon more than regular heating oil.

Donohoe says the average customer at Jesse E. Lyman burns about 900 gallons of heating oil per year. By switching to bioheat, that customer would be paying about $45 per year more.
"The resistance to biodiesel is economic," Donohoe says. "Are people willing to pay more for fuel where they are already paying an all-time high? The feedback we've gotten is that universally, people are willing to pay more."  Tax incentives offered by the federal government help make it "feasible" for companies like Jesse E. Lyman to venture into the biodiesel market. Thanks to those tax incentives, Donohoe says, "We can sell a premium product without the premium being too excessive."

The bioheat being used by Lyman is a blend of 5 percent biodiesel and 95 percent conventional fuel oil. The biodiesel for vehicles is a 20 percent, 80 percent blend. With these ratios, Donohoe says, customers who are presently burning petroleum diesel products can switch to biodiesel without any equipment or system modifications.
"There are no outfitting requirements," Donohoe says. "They don't have to change anything."  Likewise, no major changes were needed to the Jesse E. Lyman facilities or fleet to begin selling the product.  "There was not a lot of infrastructure investment," Donohoe says. "Our investment has been in time and ways in which we're doing outreach and education. We had the infrastructure in place to do this."

The biodiesel used by Jesse E. Lyman is produced from soy beans grown in the "midsection" of the United States. "It is 100 percent agricultural diesel," Donohoe says. That raw biodiesel is then mixed with petroleum diesel at the Lyman storage site on Pine Street.
In addition to biofuels, Donohoe says another related "component" of the business is the selling and servicing of high-efficiency heating systems.  "Heating systems that are 15 or 20 years old are operating 20 percent less effectively than the newer systems we're selling now," he says. "You get more bang for your buck with these newer systems."

Although new customers would obviously be welcomed, Donohoe says he isn't necessarily looking to gain new business.
"My main goal is to educate our existing customer base, and to use that base as a model," Donohoe says. "My aim is to be a leader in the area of alternative fuels and efficient systems."

More information on biodiesel fuels can be found at www.biodiesel.org, the Web site of the National Biodiesel Board. "It's really about informing people about what this is, and what the benefits are," Donohoe says. "I see biodiesel as being a part of a new energy strategy. It may only be a small part, but I think it's something people can feel good about."  Most other local fuel-oil companies are taking a wait-and-see attitude regarding biodiesel. Neither White Mountain Oil nor Frechette Oil are offering biodiesel products at this time.

Glenn Saunders, president of White Mountain Oil, says biodiesel "may have some viability in the future." But he says consumers "have to want it" first, and he sees the additional cost as a deterrent.  "We've looked into it for a couple of years now and continue to do that," Saunders says. "When the demand is there, we're as well positioned as anybody to offer that service. And we'll be pleased to do it when there's a market."
One other company that is offering bioheat is Proulx Oil and Propane. Based in Newmarket, Proulx recently purchased Reliable Oil in Center Conway.