Durham, Johnston, and Pitt counties have signed on for Biodiesel 4 Schools; an alternative energy program. Green Circle North Carolina is behind the program, and CEO and co-owner Dean Price has bigger ideas yet.
Price said that spent oil is collected from local restaurants, undergoes a filtering process in a Benson plant, and is then taken to Piedmont Biofuels in Pittsboro. This is phase one of a three-phase plan. Phase two is to set up local biodiesel production in Durham, Wake, and Johnston counties respectively. The final phase would bring farmers in to start growing local cooking oil.
Price sees canola as the best option for phase three. The seeds are 40% oil, while the rest is meal that can be used for cattle feed. He explained:
“We’re trying to create a new industry in the Triangle, one that’s local in nature, agriculturally based and can be renewable.”
Since the impact of all three phases coming to fruition may have economical impacts, explaining the many benefits of growing oil producing crops and of having biodiesel oil processing plant locally could benefit from a marketing campaign in which brochure printers could figure prominently.