Ultra Green Energy Services (UGES) held the grand opening of its transload facility at the Broohaven Rail Terminal (BRT) in Yaphank, allowing the company to begin shipping its biodiesel onto the island for public and private use.
Biodiesel is slated to be a safer, cleaner energy that uses fatty acids from soy and other vegetable oils, as well as recycled restaurant oil, and blends it with traditional fossil fuels to create "Bioheat."
The grand opening for UGES comes just before New York City is to follow the New York City Bioheat Mandate, which, starting in October, forces new construction projects to comply with a 2 percent minimum bioheat blend of traditional home-heating oil. The transload facility at the BRT now allows the company to move that bioheat blend into the region in larger quantities while reducing the number of UGES truck shipments on Long Island's roads.
“We are pleased to be growing our biodiesel terminals on Long Island," Michael Cooper, VP of UGES stated in a release. "Rail transport is the most cost-effective and environmentally sound way to move the fuel."
The company also has future plans to open a public facility at the BRT, where trucks and cars equipped to handle biodiesel can fill their tanks like they would at a gas station.
The ribbon-cutting ceremony was attended by officials in the Department of Transportation, Suffolk Legislators DuWayne Gregory and Ed Romaine, Patchogue Mayor Paul Pontieri, County Executive Steve Bellone, and a host of other government and transportation leaders.
UGES operates in New York and seven other states in the Northeast.
