ASTM approves up to 20% biodiesel blending with heating oil

In Pennsylvania, ASTM International has voted to approve performance specifications for blends of 6 to 20 percent biodiesel with traditional heating oil. The move is a significant leap forward in the industry effort to boost the percentage of cleaner burning biodiesel that homeowners and building managers use in oilheat equipment common to the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic.
  
The updated ASTM D396 Standard Specification for Fuel Oils, containing the new grade for blends of 6 to 20 percent biodiesel, will be finalized and published by ASTM for public use after the usual ASTM review and editing process. It is expected by February 2015.