Oscar the Grouch isn't the only green thing on the set of Sesame Street these days. After 40 years of its characters teaching children about earth- friendly practives, the Sesame Street set is now heated by a BioHeat® blend.

© 2010 Sesame Workshop. Sesame Street® and associated characters are trademarks of Sesame Workshop. All rights reserved.

Based in Queens, New York, Kaufman Astoria Studios in 2010 agreed to switch from traditional heating oil to "Greenheat," a brand of Bioheat supplied by a Brooklyn-based company.

The deal with METRO will provide the facility with 80,000 gallons of BioHeat a year.

"Anytime you can do something and not damage your budget dramatically and be able to burn a cleaner fuel ... why wouldn't I?" said Hal Rosenbluth, president of Kaufman Astoria Studios, in a New York Daily News article.

METRO President Gene Pullo said commercial customers would normally use a grade of fuel with a higher sulfur content, which means more pollution. But over the past few months, these customers have expressed a great desire to go green with their heating fuel.

"We recognized that there would be a greater demand for sustainable fuels," said Pullo, 56, whose grandmother started METRO in 1942.

Kaufman Astoria will be using B5, 5 percent biodiesel fuel and 95 percent heating oil. Nick Zouvelos, chief engineer of Kaufman Astoria, said the new oil performed "beautifully" and much better than the heavier-grade oil used previously.

Kaufman Astoria has been the home of "Sesame Street" since 1992.

Spring 2010