2009 Statewide Biofuels Development Grants Focus on Feedstocks and Production
In fiscal year 2008-2009, the Biofuels Center of North Carolina awarded $2,747,927 through its Statewide Biofuels Development Grants program. The program awards grants to nonprofit organizations and academic institutions across the state to help develop the biofuels sector. For its 2009 funding cycle, the Center identified specific priorities in the broad areas of Growing/Feedstocks and Production through a Request for Proposals process. Although the full impact of these investments in North Carolina’s biofuels future will grow as projects progress, the map below shows counties where 2009 funding recipients are based.
Map numbers are listed below
2009 Awards
$108,800 ~ Algae Downstream Processes Automated for Commercialization ~ Cape Fear Resource Conservation & Development, Inc. ~ Wilmington
$194,375 ~ Canola Production, Processing, and Market Development for Biodiesel ~ North Carolina Solar Center ~ Raleigh
$171,293 ~ Energy Canes: Ideal Fuelstocks for NC’s Diverse Energy Needs ~ North Carolina State University Mountain Horticulture Crops ~ Mills River
$129,133 ~ Extraction and Refinement of Oils from Biodiesel Feedstocks ~ Appalachian State University ~ Boone
$198,385 ~ Biodiesel Pilot Plant Demonstration & Outreach Program ~ North Carolina Solar Center ~ Raleigh
$184,891 ~ Biomass Gasification Tar Cracking Catalyst Development for Biofuels Synthesis ~ RTI International ~ Research Triangle Park
$167,061 ~ Enzymatic Processing of Biodiesel ~ Chatham County Economic Development Corporation ~ Pittsboro
$150,295 ~ Fungal Biopulping for Improved Ethanol Production from Low-cost Woody Feedstocks ~ University of North Carolina – Charlotte ~ Charlotte
$ 99,850 ~ Greater Charlotte Region Biofuel Facility ~ Centralina Council of Governments ~ Charlotte
$183,802 ~ Low Cost Conversion of Industrial Sludges to Ethanol ~ North Carolina State University ~ Raleigh
$200,000 ~ Optimal NC Energy Crop Gasification Project ~ The Abell Foundation, Inc. ~ Durham
$180,496 ~ Reducing Natural Resource Impacts Related to Biodiesel Production ~ Carolina Land & Lakes RC&D, Inc. ~ Newton
$ 35,415 ~ Biodiesel Feedstock Research ~ North Carolina Department of Agriculture & Consumer Services: Division of Research Stations ~ Oxford
$162,438 ~ Economic Analysis of Pine Biomass Feedstocks for Ethanol Production ~ North Carolina State University ~ Raleigh
$150,000 ~ Feedstock Processing Station ~ Catawba County ~ Newton
$199,128 ~ Integrated Low-Cost Torrefaction-Gasification for Production of Biofuels from Forest Resources ~ North Carolina State University ~ Raleigh
$183,468 ~ Optimizing Cultivation and Conversion Parameters for Efficient Sweet Sorghum Bioethanol ~ North Carolina State University ~ Raleigh
$ 49,097 ~ From Farms to Fuels: Renewable Energy Production ~ Craven County Schools ~ New Bern
Algae Downstream Processes Automated for Commercialization
Award amount: $108,800
Funding recipient: Cape Fear Resource Conservation & Development, Wilmington
Cape Fear Resource Conservation and Development (CFRC&D) works cooperatively with individuals and groups to improve social, economic and environmental conditions, thereby enhancing the quality of life. CFRC&D is a 501(c)(3) charitable nonprofit corporation serving Brunswick, Bladen, Columbus, New Hanover and Pender Counties, and is made possible by a partnership with the USDA - Natural Resources Conservation Service. CFRC&D is partnering with Alganomics, LLC, an upstart entrepreneurial business focused on algae culturing and environmental remediation.
The project centers on a pilot algae culturing plant, a tubular photobioreactor, which is located at the Oak Island Wastewater Treatment Facility (Oak Island, NC). The project is designed to further develop algae downstream processes through incorporation of cell disruption and filtration technologies, as well as system automation. The fundamental goal is to demonstrate a sustainable and practical algal propagation system and quantify algal oil and biomass harvest suitable for biofuels production.
Acrylic tubes in a large photobioreactor.
Spring 2010
Leveraged funds reported: $79,500
North Carolina counties benefiting from this project: Brunswick, Bladen, and Caldwell
For additional information about the impact of Biofuels Center funding and a brief explanation of award recipient reporting requirements, click here.
Canola Production, Processing & Market Development for Biodiesel
Award amount: $194,375
Funding recipient: North Carolina Solar Center, Wake County
The North Carolina Solar Center is conducting statewide research to determine best-suited varieties and production practices for canola and to study post-harvest handling, processing, and markets that will detail the capital and operating costs for each step, from seed to oil for use as biodiesel feedstock.
NCSU researchers use a seed drill to plant canola as part of a no-till study.
Spring 2010
No-till canola a few weeks after planting.
North Carolina counties benefiting from this project: Caldwell, Chatham, Duplin, Franklin, Montgomery, and Wake
For additional information about the impact of Biofuels Center funding and a brief explanation of award recipient reporting requirements, click here.
Energy Canes: Ideal Fuelstocks for North Carolina's Diverse Energy Needs
Award amount: $171,293
Funding recipient: North Carolina State University Mountain Horticulture Crops, Mills River
Energy canes represent grasses in the “sugarcane complex” and include sugarcanes, miscanthus, and their hybrids. The perennial, cold-hardy species in this complex have considerable potential as biomass crops in North Carolina. Research at NC State University has been multi-directional, utilizing expertise from 3 different departments to assess regional adaptability and production of energy canes in North Carolina, to develop improved energy canes suitable for North Carolina, and to refine ethanol bioprocessing for energy canes. Field trials are being conducted at the Mountain Horticultural Crops Research Station (MHCRS), Mills River and NCDA Oxford Tobacco Research Station to evaluate regional adaptability, biomass yield, and fertilizer response of Miscanthus x giganteus, with initial results indicating that phosphorus is crucial for initial establishment and early growth. In a second trial, the regional adaptability and biomass yield of seven different energy canes are being evaluated at Mills River and Wallace, N.C., providing side-by-side comparison of potential energy crops for North Carolina. Conventional plant breeding techniques are being utilized to develop new cultivars with improved biomass yields, increased cold tolerance, and regional adaptability. A wide range of new hybrids have been developed and will be evaluated as candidate bioenergy crops. In addition, ethanol bioprocessing is being tailored specifically for energy canes. Initial results provide a strong platform for future research and indicate promise for an energy cane biofuel industry in North Carolina.
Energy Cane Plots - NCSU Mountain Horticulture Research Station, Mills River, NC,
August 2009
Leveraged funds reported: $368,250
North Carolina counties benefiting from this project: Duplin, Granville, and Henderson
For additional information about the impact of Biofuels Center funding and a brief explanation of award recipient reporting requirements, click here.
Extraction & Refinement of Biodiesel Feedstock Oils
Award amount: $129,133
Funding recipient: Appalachian State University, Watauga County
The Biodiesel Research Program located at Appalachian State University in Boone, NC is dedicated to developing a multi-pronged approach to increasing the amount of liquid fuels sold in North Carolina by 10% by the year 2017. In partnership with the Catawba County EcoComplex, the research team has developed a multi-pronged approach to providing state growers and producers of biodiesel with efficient processes that will make it an economically viable alternative to petroleum. This interdisciplinary research collaboration focuses on educating growers about the benefit of planting biodiesel feedstocks and optimizing the processes for the refinement and extraction of oil from seeds.
Leveraged funds reported: $36,182
North Carolina counties benefiting from this project: Catawba and Watauga
For additional information about the impact of Biofuels Center funding and a brief explanation of award recipient reporting requirements, click here.
Biodiesel Pilot Plant Demonstration & Outreach Program
Award amount: $198,385
Funding recipient: North Carolina Solar Center, Wake County
Biodiesel producers in North Carolina have used North Carolina State University personnel for technical and business evaluation support over the past six years. In conjunction with these support services, a well-instrumented 150 gallon pilot plant has been built at the Lake Wheeler University Field Laboratory. Upgrading this pilot plant for additional capability allows students to explore methods of obtaining optimum methanol recovery, reduce water and energy consumption via improved wet and dry cleanup processes, develop novel techniques for processing waste oil resources, and demonstrate essential analytical technologies to provide for good process quality control for biodiesel processing while reducing the atmospheric volatile organic air emissions and waste water stream discharges. These improvements allow the Renewable Energy Technology Diploma Series to improve the hands-on portion of the existing course from the current “garage” system to an instrumented pilot plant which reflects commercial practices. Through this project NCSU is working with several biodiesel producers in North Carolina to improve their operating capabilities by demonstrating better approaches for some of the industry processing challenges.
Leveraged funds reported: $86,000
North Carolina counties benefiting from this project: Chatham, Lenoir, Wake, and Wilson
For additional information about the impact of Biofuels Center funding and a brief explanation of award recipient reporting requirements, click here.
Biomass Gasification Tar Cracking Catalyst Development for Biofuels Synthesis
Award amount: $184,891
Funding recipient: RTI International, Research Triangle Park, NC
RTI, with support from the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Biomass Program, is developing syngas clean up technologies necessary for the technical success of biomass-to-liquids (BTL) processes that have the potential to convert abundant biomass resources, such as forest thinnings and other woody biomass found in North Carolina, into liquid transportation fuels.
Currently, the most technically defined thermochemical route for producing alternative fuels from lignocellulosic biomass involves gasification/reforming of biomass to produce syngas (carbon monoxide [CO] + hydrogen [H2]), followed by syngas cleaning, Fischer-Tropsch synthesis (FTS) or alcohol synthesis, and some product upgrading via hydroprocessing or separation.
Excessive tar levels in biomass-derived syngas potentially threaten the successful development of thermochemical biofuels production processes. Overcoming the technical challenges of removing tars and other impurities in biomass-derived syngas will speed the development of robust, thermochemical conversion process for converting North Carolina’s abundant biomass resources into economically viable renewable liquid transportation fuels.
North Carolina counties benefiting from this project: Durham
For additional information about the impact of Biofuels Center funding and a brief explanation of award recipient reporting requirements, click here.
Enzymatic Processing of Biodiesel
Award amount: $167,061
Funding recipient: Chatham County Economic Development Corporation, Pittsboro, NC
The Chatham County Economic Development Corporation (CCEDC), in cooperation with Piedmont Biofuels and Novozymes, is researching enzymatic biodiesel processing methods and building a mobile enzymatic pilot plant. Enzymatic processing can convert low-quality feedstocks into fuel and help funnel fats and oils currently too difficult to process, like brown grease and DAF sludge, toward fuel production. An estimated eight million gallons of brown grease are available in North Carolina alone with another 400,000 gallons of DAF sludge per chicken plant—all of which are otherwise composted or landfilled. In addition, enzymatic processing results in a cleaner glycerin co-product, reduces or eliminates the use of water and the associated disposal problem, and occurs at a lower temperature compared to competing next-generation catalysts.
Enzymatic Biodiesel Processing Unit
June 2010
Leveraged funds reported: $51,000
North Carolina counties benefiting from this project: Chatham
For additional information about the impact of Biofuels Center funding and a brief explanation of award recipient reporting requirements, click here.
Fungal Biopulping for Improved Ethanol Production from Low-cost Woody Feedstocks
Award amount: $150,295
Funding recipient: University of North Carolina at Charlotte, Charlotte, NC
Lignocellulosic (woody) biomass such as wood waste, leftover crop stalks, grasses, and municipal cardboard waste are broadly generated in North Carolina, and potentially represent more economical, sustainable sources of biomass for ethanol production than do traditional feedstocks. However, the abundant sugars contained in lignocellulosic biomass are blocked from traditional ethanol-producing fermentation reactions because they occur in a complex of lignin and celluloses that is difficult to break down. Current methods using chemical and enzymatic breakdown are relatively expensive and energy-intensive, which inhibits commercialization. Development of more sustainable, cost-effective processing technologies that address these limitations is needed to advance lignocellulosic ethanol production.
In this project, researchers at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte are examining specific wood-rot fungi for their ability to rapidly break down lignin and cellulose in common North Carolina plant waste materials, with the goal of developing more cost-effective and sustainable biomass sources and processing technologies for ethanol production. Such fungi have already been used in the paper industry to efficiently break down wood in a process called biopulping. In particular, UNC Charlotte researchers are testing multiple fungal species on a variety of lignocellulosic biomass types (wood waste, corn stover, switchgrass, etc.) in comparative experiments to examine biopulping efficiency, sugar production, and ethanol yield. Best practices characterized in laboratory experiments will be examined for pilot scalability at the Catawba County EcoComplex (a rural resource recovery facility). The overall goal is to experimentally investigate, develop, and demonstrate an innovative application of fungal biopulping technology to improve efficiency, sustainability, and marketability of lignocellulosic ethanol biofuel production in North Carolina.
Studies suggest that lignocellulosic biomass may be the only available plant material capable of supporting truly sustainable large-scale ethanol production. This project utilizes fundamental research to characterize, develop, and apply sustainable technology to produce lignocellulosic ethanol from non-food plant biomass that is produced statewide. Combined laboratory and pilot-scale research is intended to ultimately lead to market interests in fungal biopulping for lignocellulosic ethanol production and demonstrate a sustainable, rural-capable model that could be incorporated into existing ethanol plants and new production facilities around the state. Transformation of readily available non-food plant waste material into a marketable, sustainable energy commodity will have positive economic implications on local, state, and national levels.
North Carolina counties benefiting from this project: Mecklenburg and Catawba
For additional information about the impact of Biofuels Center funding and a brief explanation of award recipient reporting requirements, click here.
Greater Charlotte Biofuel Facility
Award Amount: $99,850
Funding recipient: Greater Charlotte Region Biofuel Facility – Centralina Council of Governments, Mecklenburg County
This project is an important first step in learning how and to what extent Charlotte-Mecklenburg Utilities and its partners can transform brown grease, currently a waste product, into biodiesel fuel. The project team, including Central Piedmont Community College, UNC Charlotte, and Centralina Council of Governments (through the Centralina Clean Fuels Coalition) is assessing the technical, economic and environmental feasibility of using problematic fats, oils and grease (FOG) as biodiesel feedstock.
Brown grease currently removed from restaurant grease traps, for example, often is taken to landfills because it is mixed with wastewater. Grease poured down drains is the leading cause of sanitary sewer overflows in the Utilities’ 4,000-mile wastewater collection system.
“Determining whether a feasible technology exists to convert Charlotte’s brown grease to biodiesel is incredibly useful no matter what the outcome. So many utilities are struggling with the same challenge of grease-related overflows that these findings will benefit communities nationally as well.” – Jackie Jarrell, Superintendent of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Utilities Environmental Management Division
“To push the green envelope in the region, local governments need to work with and support our academic institutions. We hope this is just the first step.” – Bob Misenheimer, Mayor of Kannapolis and Chair of the Centralina COG Board of Delegates
In addition to CCFC and CMU, the project team includes Catawba County Utility and Engineering Department and students and faculty from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, Central Piedmont Community College, and Appalachian State University.
Leveraged funds reported: $85,000
North Carolina counties benefiting from this project: Mecklenburg
For additional information about the impact of Biofuels Center funding and a brief explanation of award recipient reporting requirements, click here.
Low Cost Conversion of Industrial Sludges to Ethanol
Award amount: $183,802
Funding recipient: North Carolina State University, Raleigh
North Carolina State University and Advanced Residuals Management are partnering on this project to identify and develop a new cost-effective feedstock for biofuels production compared to conventional agricultural practices. This project utilizes sludge from papermaking processes in North Carolina as a feedstock for ethanol production, avoiding landfill costs of the sludge. Researchers are characterizing a variety of industrial sludges for ethanol production potential, and will evaluate the fractionation of the sludge into two valuable streams, a carbohydrate rich stream for ethanol and a carbonate rich stream for crop land applications. Researchers will evaluate the conversion of sludge to ethanol for an extended continuous pilot plant evaluation and will conduct a rigorous economic evaluation to justify an industrial processing plant.
North Carolina counties benefiting from this project: Wake
For additional information about the impact of Biofuels Center funding and a brief explanation of award recipient reporting requirements, click here.
Optimal NC Energy Crop Gasification Project
Award amount: $200,000
Funding recipient: The Abell Foundation, Inc., Durham
In collaboration with The Abell Foundation, Inc. the project leverages and combines the dedicated energy crop research and development expertise of Ceres, Inc. with the gasification technology expertise of ThermoChem Recovery International (TRI) to identify the most promising energy crops for North Carolina and then thermochemically convert those candidate crops at TRI’s Durham gasification facility. The project team is committed to developing a diverse portfolio of products and traits to maximize the potential of energy crops to support North Carolina-based biorefineries. North Carolina has some of the highest yields for switchgrass in the US (Figure 1).
The specific lowland ecotypes chosen for this study are the first commercially available varieties and have shown a 10 to 30 percent higher biomass yields than comparable varieties. Ceres variety trials from the 2008 growing season for 6 locations in the southeast, representing 5 states, yielded an average of 10.6 tons/acre (Figure 2). On a North Carolina basis, 6 tons/acre should be considered a very good yield (2) and Ceres varieties are expected to surpass these levels. In addition to the lowlands, upland types have also been selected for evaluation. In comparison, these uplands are typically shorter and finer stemmed, but are perform better in drier soils. Growing and comparing the performance of all these cultivars will provide important data on yield potential and later on the differences in gasification processing.
In North Carolina, county estimates of the sorghum grown in 2007 and 2008 show a wide spread area of production (Figure 3). In 2008, total planted acres were estimated at 16,000 acres. The specific sorghum varieties selected for this grant are well-suited for these sorghum growing areas in North Carolina and have been specifically selected for their high biomass potential. The selected sorghum varieties are a combination of two hybrid types (Sorghum and Sorghum-Sudan) that fit two possible harvest systems. The Sorghum hybrid type is photoperiod sensitive, non-heading, has thicker stems and has the highest yield potential in a single-cut harvest. The Sorghum Sudan hybrid type is photoperiod sensitive, has thinner stems and is well suited to a multi-cut harvest system. Comparing the production of these high yielding sorghum types along with how they process in the gasification process will be significant goals of this project.
North Carolina counties benefiting from this project: Durham, with potential statewide benefit
For additional information about the impact of Biofuels Center funding and a brief explanation of award recipient reporting requirements, click here.
Reducing Natural Resource Impacts Related to Biodiesel Production
Award amount: $180,496
Funding recipient: Carolina Land & Lakes RC&D, Newton
A non-profit organization, a small business, North Carolina State University, and local governments partnered to use funding from the Biofuels Center of North Carolina to improve production while making it more environmentally friendly. Carolina Land & Lakes RC&D, supported by the Caldwell County Commissioners, the City of Lenoir, the Caldwell County Green Commission, Cooperative Extension and North Carolina State University, is working with a local biodiesel refiner, Foothills Bio-Energies in Lenoir, NC, to reduce land and water resource impacts related to biodiesel production. This project implements technologies to minimize impacts and assist with developing a model project for combustion of crude glycerol using a process recently developed at North Carolina State University. These efforts are important to the growth of a sustainable biodiesel industry in the state, both in terms of impact to the environment as well as finding value-added uses for the crude glycerol by-product.
North Carolina counties benefiting from this project: Caldwell and Catawba
For additional information about the impact of Biofuels Center funding and a brief explanation of award recipient reporting requirements, click here.
Biodiesel Feedstock Research
Award amount: $35,415
Funding recipient: North Carolina Department of Agriculture & Consumer Services: Division of Research Stations, Oxford
Since the federal tobacco buyout, farmers in North Carolina have been looking for specialty crops to help them retain their farms as viable operations. Farmers already have the equipment and the agronomic expertise to produce biodiesel feedstock crops but currently there are no local organized markets for these crops. Funds from this grant will be used to demonstrate to farmers an economically feasible and practical way to produce the biodiesel required in operating their farms. Information recorded in producing various feedstock crops will be used to help identify appropriate cropping systems that take into consideration variability of soils, build up of soil-borne pathogens, and water requirements.
NCDA researchers are growing potential feedstock crops, such as the flax pictured above. The oil seed press below, also called a crusher or extruder, separates the oil from the solids in preparation for conversion to biodiesel.
North Carolina counties benefiting from this project: Granville
For additional information about the impact of Biofuels Center funding and a brief explanation of award recipient reporting requirements, click here.
Economic Analysis of Pine Biomass Feedstocks for Ethanol Production
Award amount: $162,438
Funding recipient: North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC
A multi-departmental research team at North Carolina State University is investigating the potential of pine biomass as a source for biofuels production. One promising and feasible technology for biofuels production utilizes thermo-chemical treatment followed by enzymatic hydrolysis and fermentation to produce ethanol. In this project, sugar yield is evaluated from twenty-three diverse samples of pine biomass, which were selected from 187 different pine varieties based on cluster/family and spectroscopic difference to find the best variety of pine biomass for biofuels production. Three different pretreatments are being tested: green-liquor, dilute-acid, and organosolv pretreatments. The sugar yield results together with pretreatment cost will be used in economic models to project the costs of ethanol production from different types of pine biomass. This project is critical for enabling 10% replacement of liquid fuels in North Carolina because pine biomass is an abundant resource in North Carolina and results are needed soon to guide establishment of biofuel plantations.
North Carolina counties benefiting from this project: Wake, with potential benefit statewide
For additional information about the impact of Biofuels Center funding and a brief explanation of award recipient reporting requirements, click here.
Feedstock Processing Station
Award amount: $150,000
Funding recipient: Catawba County, Catawba County
This project helps further the research and development of biodiesel derived from non-food crops grown on and around Catawba County’s Blackburn Resource Recovery Facility. As a component of a Biodiesel Research and Production Facility, the grant funds from the Biofuels Center, being used to develop a feedstock processing station, are helping further research related to biodiesel emissions, horsepower, and crop selection. The Biodiesel Facility and the Feedstock Processing Station are part of a larger EcoComplex that is applying industrial ecology to waste management. It is the goal of the EcoComplex to recover all useable products and byproducts from a group of public and private partners that are located in a close-knit, defined area. Simply put, the EcoComplex turns waste streams into input streams while creating renewable energy (electricity, heat, and steam), new products, and reducing waste entering the landfill. Since 1999, Catawba County has been using methane gas produced by the landfill to produce renewable electricity. Plans are currently underway to expand renewable energy production using other waste streams such as woody biomass, dried bio-solids, and other organic material. Click here to visit the EcoComplex web site.
North Carolina counties benefiting from this project: Catawba
For additional information about the impact of Biofuels Center funding and a brief explanation of award recipient reporting requirements, click here.
Integrated Low-Cost Torrefaction-Gasification for Production of Biofuels from Forest Resources
Award amount: $199,128
Funding recipient: North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC
The goal is to demonstrate that the combination of torrefaction and gasification can provide for a low-cost, sustainable and scalable process for the production of liquid transportation fuels using biomass feedstocks derived from forest resources. The gasification and gas-to-liquids (GTL) process has been commercially practiced in South Africa, Qatar, and Malaysia for 30 years at a very large scale using coal and natural gas as feedstocks. Gasification of spent pulping liquor (without GTL) is commercial at the Weyerhaeuser mill in New Bern, NC. In all these cases specific aspects of the commercial technology can be applied to a biomass gasification/GTL process. But there are also significant differences between these commercial technologies and biomass gasification/GTL processes. This project will use torrefaction as a “pretreatment” that will convert woody biomass to a “coal-like” feedstock, and overcome previous limitations to enable competitive biomass gasification/GTL processes.
North Carolina counties benefiting from this project: Wake, with future benefit statewide
For additional information about the impact of Biofuels Center funding and a brief explanation of award recipient reporting requirements, click here.
Optimizing Cultivation and Conversion Parameters for Efficient Sweet Sorghum Bioethanol
Award amount: $183,468
Funding recipient: North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC
This project has established that sweet sorghum is one of the highest yielding sources of biomass in North Carolina on an annual basis. Utilizing relatively low crop inputs, such as fertilizer, water, and herbicides, sweet sorghum is capable of producing over 15 bone dry tons of biomass per acre. This crop offers the flexibility of providing ethanol processors with a directly fermentable sugar that is extracted from the sorghum juice as well as a tremendous source of cellulosic material. Data indicates that sweet sorghum can out-yield switchgrass on an annual basis while giving North Carolina crop producers the flexibility to modify their cropping systems on an annual basis.
The research team has also made strides towards lowering the production costs of sweet sorghum. Traditionally, this crop was harvested by hand using knives or axes. The North Carolina State University sorghum research team has developed an in-field juice expression and biomass ensiling system that will dramatically reduce production costs and allow the production of sweet sorghum for bioethanol to look more attractive to ethanol refining companies.
Sweet Sorghum, approximately 8 feet tall, Oxford, NC, September 2009
North Carolina counties benefiting from this project: Duplin, Granville, Johnston, and Wake
For additional information about the impact of Biofuels Center funding and a brief explanation of award recipient reporting requirements, click here.
Farms to Fuels - Renewable Energy Production
Award amount: $49,097
Funding recipient: Craven County Schools, Craven County
Craven County is located 40 miles from coastal Carteret County where over 700 acres of canola was grown in 2007. The Craven County Schools 'Farms to Fuels Program' benefits the students of West Craven High School and Havelock High School, local farmers and community members with training in the development of renewable fuels using agronomics for oilseed crops such as canola as a winter cover crop. Students in agriculture and science classes receive instruction, participate in hands-on training, visit fuel production facilities, and produce fuel to be consumed in a renovated bus and school tractor. These activities prepare students for the 21st century green economy and workforce that will impact eastern North Carolina. Instructors anticipate creating an interest in postsecondary training, college degrees, and other training opportunities in renewable energy fields.
Biodiesel processing equipment funded by the Biofuels Center helped convert this school bus into a mobile classroom.
Inside the Craven County Schools Ag Biofuels Bus, science and agriculture students learn hands-on how to make biodiesel fuel from canola and other oilseed crops, some of which the students themselves have grown on school grounds.
Leveraged funds reported: $38,310
North Carolina counties benefiting from this project: Craven and Carteret.
For additional information about the impact of Biofuels Center funding and a brief explanation of award recipient reporting requirements, click here.
