According to a new report published by the U.S. Energy Information istration (EIA), a small but growing amount of biodiesel is being consumed in the residential, commercial, and electricity sectors of the country. 465g29

According to new estimates published in the State Energy Data System, previously, all biodiesel consumption in the U.S. was allocated to the transportation sector, where most of it is consumed, a trend that is now changing.

Biodiesel use in residential and commercial sectors 5o4u18

According to the report data, it is estimated that the combined residential and commercial sectors represented almost 5% of the total biodiesel consumption in the U.S. in 2023, compared to 1% in the previous decade. The introduction of biodiesel blending mandates for heating oil in some northeastern states is contributing to this growth. While it is likely that customers in other states are blending biodiesel for heating, consumption is only estimated in New York, Connecticut, and Rhode Island.

Biodiesel consumption in the residential and commercial sectors is higher in New York than in any other state, ing for 57% of the total in the U.S. for these sectors in 2023. The city of New York ed the country's first law requiring biodiesel blending with heating fuel, mandating a minimum of 2% biodiesel blended with heating fuel starting in 2012. Later, New York enacted a statewide minimum blending law of 5% starting in 2022, which will increase to 10% in 2025 and 20% in 2030. According to the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey, nearly 16% of households in New York used heating oil as their primary source of heat in 2023, about four times the U.S. average of around 4%.

Connecticut and Rhode Island also have similar state laws for the minimum blending of biodiesel in heating oil. Connecticut's 5% blending law took effect in 2022 and will gradually increase to 10% by 2025, 15% by 2030, 20% by 2034, and 50% by 2035. Rhode Island was the first state to enact a minimum biodiesel blending law for heating oil, starting with a 5% blend in 2017, which increased to 10% in 2023. Rhode Island's blending law increases more rapidly than other states: up to 20% in 2025 and 50% by 2030. More than 34% of households in Connecticut and 26% of households in Rhode Island reported that heating oil was their primary source of heat in 2023.

Biodiesel can also be burned to generate electricity, and the electricity sector ed for less than 1% of total biodiesel consumption in the U.S. in 2023. In 2006, a test plant in Tennessee reported the first use of biodiesel for electricity in the U.S. Hawaii has ed for almost all of the biodiesel consumed in the U.S. for electricity since 2009. In 2023, petroleum fueled about 68% of Hawaii’s total electricity generation, the highest proportion of any state, and it is estimated that biodiesel contributed about 1% of the state’s total generation.