2008 Capacity Building Program Provided Grants and Loans

In its first year of operation, the Biofuels Center of North Carolina made grants and loans to facilitate and support the development of a sustainable biofuels industry in North Carolina.  Through a request for proposals process, the Center’s Biofuels Capacity Building Program targeted industrial production, agriculture, innovation/research, and workforce development.  The Center awarded grants to 13 nonprofit organizations and academic institutions and made loans to two North Carolina companies totaling $2,550,291.

Map numbers are listed below

2008 Awards

1. $250,000 (loan) ~ Blue Ridge Biofuels Biodiesel Production Expansion Project ~ Blue Ridge Biofuels, LLC ~ Asheville
2. $135,845 ~ Haywood County Biofuels PET Project ~ Haywood Community College Foundation ~ Clyde
3. $200,000 ~ Commercialization-Focused Woody Biomass Gasification Project utilizing NC Pilot Plant ~ The Abell Foundation, Inc. ~ Durham
4. $200,000 ~ Expansion of the Carbon to Liquids Development Center ~ Southern Research Institute ~ Durham
5. $  22,000 ~ NC Biofuels LLC Site Development ~ North Carolina's Northeast Economic Development Foundation, Inc. ~ Edenton
6. $250,000 (loan) ~ Building a Bio-Refinery ~ Piedmont Biofuels Industrial LLC ~ Pittsboro
7. $200,000 ~ High-Value Transportation Fuels from NC Feedstocks ~ NCSU ~ Raleigh
8. $138,688 ~ Developing  Dekkera Bruxellensis for Bio-ethanol Production ~ NCSU ~ Raleigh
9. $198,178 ~ Producing Ethanol from Biomass by Extracting Value Prior to Combustion ~ NCSU ~ Raleigh
10. $187,700 ~ Bioenergy Plantations ~ NCSU ~ Raleigh
11. $199,733 ~ Growing Duckweed on Swine Wastewater for Ethanol Production ~ NCSU ~ Raleigh
12. $197,033 ~ Economic Production of Biofuels from Industrial Sweet Potatoes ~ NCSU ~ Raleigh
13. $195,000 ~ Biofuels Production Laboratory Equipment Funding ~ Central Carolina Community College ~ Pittsboro
14. $148,800 ~ STARworks Biofuels ~ Central Park North Carolina ~ Star
15. $  27,314 ~ Renewable Fuels Program ~ Washington High School ~ Washington

Loan amount:  $250,000

Funding recipient:  Blue Ridge Biofuels, Asheville, NC

The Biofuels Center of North Carolina loaned $250,000 to Blue Ridge Biofuels in Asheville, NC to purchase and install infrastructure to meet increasing demand for biodiesel in western North Carolina.  This loan allowed Blue Ridge Biofuels to quadruple the capacity of their existing production plant, improve their ability to secure North Carolina-produced feedstock, and maximize production efficiency and profitability while reducing environmental impact.  Another compelling aspect of this project is the infrastructure support it provides for their partnership with a Buncombe county faith-based nonprofit creating “green collar” jobs for homeless veterans. 

 Blue Ridge Biofuels' new distribution rack allows for safe, efficient delivery
of biodiesel from tanks into distribution trucks.

Leveraged funds reported: $77,737
North Carolina counties benefiting from this project: Buncombe, Cherokee, Haywood, Henderson, Jackson, Madison, McDowell, Polk, Rutherford, Swain, Transylvania, Yancey

For additional information about the impact of Biofuels Center funding and a brief explanation of award recipient reporting requirements, click here.

Award amount:  $135,845

Funding recipient:  Haywood Community College, Clyde, NC

Haywood Community College has partnered with local, regional, and state entities to create the Biofuels Production, Education, and Training (PET) project in western North Carolina.  This grant has allowed the college to provide alternative fuels for campus and county vehicles as well as integrate biodiesel training into its existing Industrial and Automotive Systems Technology curricula and continuing education programs, along with incorporating it into a proposed Sustainable Technology certificate program.  The production facility uses waste oil from the College Café and from public school cafeterias, in addition to biomass crops produced in partnership with the NC Cooperative Extension Service at the research farm in Haywood County.

Leveraged funds reported: $35,000
North Carolina counties benefiting from this project: Haywood and Jackson

For additional information about the impact of Biofuels Center funding and a brief explanation of award recipient reporting requirements, click here.

Award amount:  $200,000

Funding recipient:  The Abell Foundation, Durham, NC

This grant allowed the Abell Foundation, in partnership with ThermoChem Recovery International, Inc., to rigorously and systematically test thermochemical production of clean energy from solid biomass on a profitable, industrial scale.  At a facility in Durham, NC, the group conducted continuous, multi-day, multi-ton trials on a variety of potential North Carolina feedstocks.  The custom-built, half-scale feeder system successfully processed a wide range of North Carolina biomass feedstocks, representing an important milestone in commercialization.  Using a four-dry-ton-per-day biomass gasifier, the project also successfully converted locally-grown and locally-procured biomass into energy-rich synthesis gas.  TRI's Durham facility has converted such biomass-derived syngas into hydrocarbon "drop-in" diesel fuel, representing a major national commercialization milestone.

 The photo above shows the full TRI gasification unit, illustrating where
the biomass feeder (green) is located within the structure.

Leveraged funds reported: $26,319.79 in direct support of this project, plus $4,840,992 in the full-scale gasification trial at the pilot plant
North Carolina counties benefiting from this project: Durham and Catawba

For additional information about the impact of Biofuels Center funding and a brief explanation of award recipient reporting requirements, click here.

Award amount:  $200,000

Funding recipient:  Southern Research Institute, Durham, NC

Grant funds have allowed Southern Research Institute to design, purchase, install, and commission an artificial syngas system at their Carbon to Liquids facility.  This expansion project has enabled simulation of the syngas output from a wide variety of biomass, liquid waste, sludge, and other gasifiers for use in downstream process equipment development.  SRI will use the results of various North Carolina feedstock tests to produce economic modeling for the Biofuels Center.

Leveraged funds reported: $111,937
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.

Award amount:  $22,000

Funding recipient:  North Carolina’s Northeast Economic Development Foundation, Edenton, NC

North Carolina’s Northeast Economic Development Foundation worked with corporate partner NC Biofuels, LLC to redevelop an abandoned fertilizer mixing plant and pesticide distribution facility for use as an industrial biodiesel production facility.  In conjunction with the North Carolina Department of Environment and Natural Resources’ NC Brownfields Program, grant funds supported a Phase II Environmental Assessment on the site near Seaboard in Northampton County.  The Phase II Study has been completed with only minor mitigation required. The property is currently under contract to purchase by the private company. North Carolina’s Northeast Economic Development Foundation reports that this public-private partnership will result in the further development and expansion of NC Biofuels, LLC that will bring additional new jobs to a Tier One County and provide a viable source of alternate fuels for automobile and industry consumption.

Leveraged funds reported: $3,000
North Carolina counties benefiting from this project: Chowan and Northampton

For additional information about the impact of Biofuels Center funding and a brief explanation of award recipient reporting requirements, click here.

Loan amount:  $250,000

Funding recipient:  Piedmont Biofuels Industrial, LLC, Pittsboro, NC

The Biofuels Center of North Carolina loaned $250,000 to Piedmont Biofuels Industrial, LLC, for equipment to build a “bio-refinery” at their Pittsboro, NC biodiesel facility.  For every five gallons of biodiesel fuel the facility produces, it creates approximately one gallon of a previously unusable mixture of water, free fatty acids, methanol, and crude glycerin.  Disposal of this by-product increases production cost.  The new bio-refinery separates the component ingredients into usable co-products, turning a cost center into a profit center.  Because of this loan, Piedmont Biofuels is not only reducing their own by-product waste, but has extra capacity to refine biodiesel by-products from other facilities.  In addition, they openly share information to help other biodiesel producers in the state incorporate this process into their own facilities.

Equipment funded by the Biofuels Center of North Carolina allows Piedmont Biofuels Industrial, LLC
to separate biodiesel production byproducts into useable component parts.

North Carolina counties benefiting from this project: Anson, Chatham, Columbus, and New Hanover

For additional information about the impact of Biofuels Center funding and a brief explanation of award recipient reporting requirements, click here.

Award amount:  $200,000

Funding recipient:  North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC

Using North Carolina feedstocks such as hog lard, chicken fat, and waste vegetable oil, researchers at North Carolina State University have created high-value second generation biofuels such as jet fuel and all-weather diesel.  Having proven their patent-pending, three-step process at the laboratory scale, researchers used grant funds for equipment and experimentation to increase production volume sufficient for testing in engines.

An interview with researcher, Dr. Bill Roberts can be heard here.

High-tech equipment meets old-fashioned Mason jars:  using this HP/HT Pressure Reactor (above) and simple glass containers (below), NCSU researchers create a variety of transportation fuels from waste products like chicken fat and hog lard.

Leveraged funds reported: $2,000,000; activities funded by the Biofuels Center led to Dr. Bill Roberts and his team receiving a National Science Foundation grant to further their research
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.

Award amount:  $138,688

Funding recipient:  North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC

Researchers at North Carolina State University are studying various strains of the yeast Dekkera bruxellensis to more efficiently produce bioethanol from both traditional starch-based and cellulosic substrates.  Originally identified as a spoilage contaminant in the wine industry, Dekkera bruxellensis can survive both the harsh environments of cellulosic fermentation and higher alcohol concentrations than traditional yeast strains called Saccharomyces.  This research is expected to yield more efficient ways to produce bioethanol to help optimize the use of our state’s natural resources.

Leveraged funds reported: $47,375
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.

Award amount:  $198,178

Funding recipient:  North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC

With 17.6 million acres of forest, covering over half of its land area, North Carolina is rich in woody biomass – a renewable resource for fuel ethanol production.  North Carolina State University researchers are implementing a woody biomass-to-ethanol production model that optimizes both ethanol yields and energy costs.  This project involves a simple process scheme that addresses both the complexity and the capital cost issues of producing ethanol from biomass by adding a wood-to-ethanol processing plant adjacent to a wood-to-energy power generating station. The ethanol plant would process biomass prior to its combustion in a coal fired power station, which is one likely scenario to meet the Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS) for North Carolina power generation.  Briefly, the process calls for hot water or steam treatment of wood (chips or forest residues) to extract some of the sugar from the wood. The dissolved sugars are then converted to ethanol by fermentation. The wood residue is sent to a boiler and burned as conventionally practiced. Financial analysis of an investment of the ethanol plant adjacent to an existing wood-fired power plant shows an after-tax Internal Rate of Return greater than 20% without subsidies.

Leveraged funds reported: $70,000
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.

Award amount:  $187,700

Funding recipient:  North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC

Experts at North Carolina State University are conducting a technical and economic study to establish the feasibility of affordable, abundant, renewable biomass selected for efficient conversion to transportation fuels for North Carolina.  The project explores every step in the supply chain, with emphasis in biomass production and conversion processes.  Several investment scenarios are simulated in different biomass types and conversion technologies to understand the feasibility and profitability of the business.  Information is intended to be used by law makers as a tool to enhance our state’s favorable conditions to compete in the biofuels industry and to inform investors, ultimately promoting new facilities and creating new jobs across the state.

Leveraged funds reported: $117,859
North Carolina counties benefiting from this project: Wake, with long-term benefit statewide

For additional information about the impact of Biofuels Center funding and a brief explanation of award recipient reporting requirements, click here.

Award amount:  $199,733

Funding recipient:  North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC

For a number of years, researchers at North Carolina State University have used Duckweed, the world’s smallest flowering plant, to effectively clean swine wastewater lagoons.  This fast-growing plant contains properties that make it a potential feedstock for North Carolina-based ethanol production.  The Biofuels Center of North Carolina is sponsoring research into cost-effective growing, harvesting, drying, and pre-production techniques to make duckweed an agriculturally and economically sustainable crop for ethanol production. 

Biomass production, processing costs and scale-up potential are critical factors in commercialization of plant biomass for ethanol production.  Previous research at N.C. State University has investigated the use of hog wastewater for production of duckweed biomass that could be used as a feedstock for ethanol production.  Researchers demonstrated ethanol production from duckweed biomass using existing corn-based methods.  These achievements provided proof-of-concept that duckweed biomass could be used to produce ethanol for fuel. 

In the Biofuels Center-funded research, a scaled-up, pilot version of the system was built on an operational hog farm in Johnston County to design and test protocols for cropping, harvesting, and drying of duckweed biomass, to produce ethanol from this biomass, and to conduct the first economic analysis of ethanol production from duckweed biomass. 

The goal of the cropping, harvesting and drying studies is to identify low-cost, scaled-up protocols that would be easily integrated into hog farm operations and determine the cost to produce dry duckweed biomass.   The objectives of the ethanol study are to determine: a) if the dry duckweed is a good fermentation feedstock, b) the yield of ethanol from duckweed biomass and c) the cost to produce ethanol from duckweed biomass.  Results indicate that hog wastewater will serve as an excellent source of nutrients to support fast growth of duckweed biomass at yields of minimally 6 tons dry weight/acre over North Carolina’s 30-week growing period.  Simple pumping and sieving methods can be used for harvesting using readily available materials and equipment.  Air drying is sufficient for reducing the moisture content of fresh duckweed to less than 15%.  At this moisture content the organic constituents of the biomass are stable.  This cropping and drying system produces duckweed biomass with a protein content of 35-40% of dry weight and approximately 10% starch.  A further growth step was investigated to determine if a method could be developed to induce the plants to accumulate higher starch levels sufficient for economical commercial ethanol production.  Results indicate that several factors impact starch accumulation and that accumulation remains variable.  In spite of that variability, starch accumulation of at least 25% of dry weight can be readily achieved.  At this level, starch yields would be 1.5 tons starch/acre.

An interview with researcher, Anne Stomp can be heard here.  Additional information will be available upon completion of the project.

Dr. Stomp holds one week-old duckweed.  

North Carolina counties benefiting from this project: Johnston and Wake

For additional information about the impact of Biofuels Center funding and a brief explanation of award recipient reporting requirements, click here.

Award amount:  $197,033

Funding recipient:  North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC

Most people in the United States are familiar only with the orange-fleshed sweet potato, but researchers in other parts of the globe, most notably China and Japan, have made much progress breeding high starch sweet potatoes for use as a non-edible, industrial feedstock. Sweet potatoes are capable of producing very high yields, are drought resistant, and require low fertilizer inputs compared to other horticultural crops. North Carolina already has the largest sweet potato industry in the USA, with considerable expertise relating to the production of sweet potatoes, and a network of extension agents and scientist who support the industry.  This gives industrial sweet potatoes good potential to rapidly become a biofuels feedstock for North Carolina.

This three-year project is focused on developing high starch industrial sweet potatoes for North Carolina, along with integrated crop production and processing technologies, for the production of ethanol and other bio-based chemicals.  Research efforts are addressing the major impediments to the successful use of industrial sweet potatoes for ethanol production on-farm in North Carolina. Specifically, researchers are working to:

     1) Breed high-yielding high-starch sweet potatoes that will produce more ethanol per acre;

     2) Determine if it is feasible to plant sweet potatoes using a novel “cut seed piece” planting technology that has potential to significantly lower production costs;

     3) Develop mechanical harvesting and improved storage methods so that industrial sweet potatoes can be harvested more economically and stored to provide biofuels feedstock year-round.

To achieve project goals, NCSU has assembled a multidisciplinary team of scientists consisting of breeders and molecular geneticists; crop production, cultural management and post-harvest specialists; and bioprocess engineers. The results of these complementary studies will provide the Biofuels Center of North Carolina with a solid understanding of the true potential of industrial sweet potatoes for North Carolina, and the Southeast US, in general.

Research trials have been conducted in Sampson, Lenoir, Duplin, Washington, and Granville counties.  Click here to listen to an interview with the researchers.

NCSU Researcher Ken Pecota discusses planting technique trials using cut seed pieces and sprigs during the Biofuels Field Day at the Williamsdale Bioenergy Field Laboratory near Wallace, NC, October 2008

Leveraged funds reported: $195,607
North Carolina counties benefiting from this project: Duplin, Granville, Lenoir, Sampson, Wake, and Washington

For additional information about the impact of Biofuels Center funding and a brief explanation of award recipient reporting requirements, click here.

Award amount:  $195,000

Funding recipient:  Central Carolina Community College, serving Chatham, Lee, and Harnett Counties

Central Carolina Community College developed the first Associate Degree program for biofuels education on the east coast.  Alternative Fuels Technology:  Biofuels is an interdisciplinary curriculum combining chemistry, biotechnology, industrial design, sustainable agriculture, and energy resource management.  The College is currently constructing a state-of-the-art training facility at the Pittsboro campus.  Once completed, the Sustainable Technologies building will house classrooms and labs used to train not only CCCC students, but also instructors from community colleges across the state, about renewable energy, green building, sustainable farming, and biofuels. 

Equipment purchased with this grant will outfit the Biofuels Production Lab.  The facility will allow instructors and students to simulate a wide variety of biofuels production methods as they prepare for jobs in the state’s growing biofuels industry.  Curriculum developed for the production laboratory will be available to all 58 of North Carolina’s community colleges, allowing for rapid, yet strategic, growth of workforce development across the state.  The Biofuels Production Lab will also be utilized to help educate local farmers interested in meeting their fuel needs on their own farms.

Leveraged funds reported: $50,000
North Carolina counties benefiting from this project: Chatham, Davidson, Durham, Guilford, Harnett, Lee, Orange, Randolph, Rockingham, and Wake

For additional information about the impact of Biofuels Center funding and a brief explanation of award recipient reporting requirements, click here.

Award amount:  $148,800

Funding recipient:  Central Park North Carolina, Star, NC

Central Park NC is a nonprofit organization designed to bring sustainable, environmentally-sound economic development to rural North Carolina while preserving the beauty and heritage of its small towns and farming communities.  STARworks Biofuels is a part of the CPNC’s STARworks Center for Creative Enterprise, a hybrid business incubator focused on the creative arts, sustainable agriculture, and sustainable energy.  This grant funded a biodiesel production facility to fuel the state’s only public access glass studio as well as other STARworks operations. 

STARworks Biofuels collects waste vegetable oil from local restaurants and produces biodiesel fuel using a 500 gallon jacketed batch reactor with methanol recovery.  They are organizing a biodiesel coop and will provide fuel to members in the near future.  Waste heat from the glass studio provides the heat necessary to produce biodiesel, thereby reducing manufacturing costs and the energy footprint at the plant.

From the primary entrance into the STARworks Biodiesel plant, visitors first see the fuel verification tank, ion exchange column, and wash tank on the left.  The yellow fuel pump/meter on the right dispenses biodiesel beside the loading dock door.

Leveraged funds reported: $25,000
North Carolina counties benefiting from this project: Montgomery

For additional information about the impact of Biofuels Center funding and a brief explanation of award recipient reporting requirements, click here.

Award amount:  $27,314

Funding recipient:  Washington High School, Beaufort County Schools, Washington, NC

Students in Agricultural and Chemistry courses at Washington High School in Beaufort County are producing biodiesel fuel from waste vegetable oil collected from school cafeterias and local restaurants.  A 23’ wheelchair-accessible school bus has been outfitted as a mobile classroom for biodiesel production.  Student-produced fuel will power several tractors used by the athletic department as well as a local-use activity bus.  The hands-on program includes coursework and field trips to renewable fuel production facilities and a public information component that will teach Beaufort County students, parents, and community members about the environmental and economic benefits of renewable fuels.

Washington High School's Mobile Biodiesel Classroom, interior.

Washington High School's Mobile Biodiesel Classroom, exterior.

North Carolina counties benefiting from this project: Beaufort

For additional information about the impact of Biofuels Center funding and a brief explanation of award recipient reporting requirements, click here.