If you weren't one of the lucky hundreds who received our press release about the new biodiesel facility, here's the news ...

CENTRAL PARK NC RECEIVES GRANT TO BRING BIOFUELS TO STAR, NC

STAR, NC – A biodiesel plant is coming to Star, NC thanks to a generous grant from the Biofuels Center of North Carolina to regional nonprofit Central Park NC.

"This is very exciting news, not only are we creating new jobs but we're helping lay the foundation for sustainable energy in North Carolina's Central Park region," said Nancy Gottovi, Central Park NC's executive director.

The $148,800 grant will provide equipment and upgrading for an existing tank farm at the STARworks Center for Creative Enterprises. Based on the successful business model employed by Piedmont Biofuels, the new STARworks biodiesel facility hopes to produce between 60,000 to 250,000 gallons of biodiesel by 2009. Piedmont Biofuels, based in Pittsboro, will partner with Central Park NC to develop the facility.

The new plant will convert mostly waste vegetable oil (such as that used in restaurant fryers) into biodiesel. In the future, the biodiesel may be sold locally to residents and businesses and possibly even as an alternative home heating fuel.

"We believe strongly that the key to biofuels sustainability is keeping it small and keeping it local and using waste oils as much as possible," said Gottovi. "We hope that area restaurants will join us in the effort to provide our local region with affordable fuels made from our own local resources rather than contributing to the continued importation of foreign petroleum."

A byproduct of biodiesel production, glycerin, may be used to power a feedstock refinery in the future. In addition, the newest business in the STARworks facility, Wet Dog Glass, will research how to use biodiesel and glycerin as alternative fuels for glass and ceramic studios.

Central Park NC, formerly the Yadkin-Pee Dee Lakes Project, was created in 1993 to develop a strategy to preserve the natural and cultural assets of central North Carolina, using them to create a sustainable local economy. Today the organization fulfills its mission by providing support to the small towns in the region through entrepreneurial training, small business development, revitalization, fostering of creative enterprises, and working with a consensus of leaders from eight counties to conserve land and natural resources.