The Biofuels Center of North Carolina has the long-term task of developing a large-scale biofuels industry sector to reduce the state's dependence on imported petroleum. North Carolina’s Strategic Plan for Biofuels Leadership sets the goal of replacing 10% of the petroleum imported into North Carolina with biofuels locally grown and produced. The Biofuels Center was created in 2007 and is permanently funded by the North Carolina General Assembly to implement the strategic plan so the state's farmers, biofuels manufacturers, biofuels workers, and consumers benefit from this emerging multimillion dollar home-grown industry.

More about the Biofuels Center HERE

The scale of the challenge

North Carolina buys 5.6 billion gallons of liquid fuels every year. Almost all of this massive volume is imported and adds no value to the state's agriculture, forestry, or manufacturing economy. North Carolina's goal is to produce about 560-600 million gallons of biofuels a year (MGY) from local, renewable resources by 2017. To sustainably replace 10% of the state's petroleum imports will require millions of tons of biomass from cellulosic sources such as energy grasses and wood, providing new opportunities and income to farmers and land owners. Filling up with locally grown and manufactured biofuels blends will allow citizens to empower not just their vehicles, but also the North Carolina economy.