Biogenic Fuels
Vicinity Energy aims to reduce, reuse and recycle waste in every way we can.
What are Biogenic Fuels?
Vicinity partners with a Boston-based firm that produces a unique biogenic fuel derived from waste vegetable oil and fats discarded by the food service industry. We are currently consuming it in many of our central plants to reduce our reliance on fossil fuels and plan to integrate it into our fuel mix across more of our districts over time.
An Alternative to Fossil Fuels
Renewable biogenic fuels are bridging the clean energy gap and uplifting local communities.
A truly circular solution, Vicinity is using the waste discarded by the local food service industry to generate steam, which is used to heat and cool businesses and institutions in the very same communities from which it came.
Rather than dispose of it as waste material, which winds up in landfills or clogs city sewer systems, we’re repurposing this discarded cooking oil into a renewable heating source and using it for the production of energy.
Green Impact
The benefits of transitioning to this carbon neutral biogenic fuel source are numerous, and include…
- Reducing greenhouse gas emissions by over 80% versus distillate fuel, improving local air quality by reducing nitrogen oxides, sulfur oxides and particulate emissions by 10 times.
- Recycling hundreds of thousands of gallons of food service industry waste oil into energy that would otherwise be discarded in landfills or city sewers
- Significantly reducing Vicinity’s distillate fuel use, cutting carbon emissions by thousands of tons
- Expanding our partners’ operations into new urban communities, resulting in job creation, recycling programs and cost savings for local restaurants, and sustainability benefits for the community
- Keeping waste out of the municipal water systems and landfills