MARCH 19, 2009 ISSUE
Commissioners Lease Landfill Land To High Country Biofuels Cooperative
Biodiesel Processing Facility Planned for Site
For the past two years, High Country Biofuels Cooperative, Inc. has supplied roughly 50 cooperative members with B99 biodiesel that has been purchased from Foothills Bioenergies in Lenoir. HCBC Vice President Jeremy Farrell, pictured driving, and other cooperative board members use a truck—purchased using grant funds from the NC-DENR Division of Air Quality—to transport the biodiesel up the mountain.
After consulting with Watauga County Attorney Andrea Capua in closed session, the Watauga County Board of Commissioners on Tuesday voted unanimously to enter into a lease agreement with High Country Biofuels Cooperative, Inc. (HCBC) for approximately one-third of an acre at the Watauga County Landfill complex. HCBC plans to build a biodiesel processing facility at the site that will produce 500 gallons of biodiesel per week from waste vegetable oil collected from High Country restaurants.
According to Watauga County Manager Rocky Nelson, the commissioners granted the lease with the following conditions: that HCBC bear the entire cost of construction; that HCBC is responsible for all NC-DENR (Department of the Environment and Natural Resources) compliance, permitting issues and local regulations; that HCBC obtain city water from the Town of Boone; and that HCBC secure the appropriate amount of insurance or bond in the event of a spill.
HCBC will now apply for a grant from the N.C. Green Business Fund to fund the construction of the facility. The deadline for the grant application is April 6.
HCBC is requesting that the one-third of an acre feature southern exposure for the purpose of capturing solar heat.
In the lease agreement with the county, HCBC agreed to provide the Watauga County Sanitation Department B20 biodiesel—a blend of 20 percent biodiesel mixed with 80 percent petroleum diesel—for use in off-road county equipment at a reduced cost. Once the facility is operational, the county and HCBC will negotiate the exact rate.
According to Jeremy Farrell, vice president of HCBC, the focus of the project is to provide the opportunity for High Country citizens to purchase locally produced biodiesel through membership in the cooperative; to provide educational opportunities for those interested in the technology; and to provide biodiesel for use in equipment at the landfill.
HCBC started in Boone in 2000 and is a cooperative association of community members dedicated to making biodiesel available to interested citizens. In addition, the cooperative is engaged in educating the general public about the benefits, both economic and environmental, of biodiesel technology. HCBC currently has no physical office space or employees as its members, on a volunteer basis, perform all activities of the cooperative.
For the past two years, HCBC has supplied roughly 50 cooperative members with B99 biodiesel that has been purchased from Foothills Bioenergies in Lenoir, the closest biodiesel processing facility to Boone. This was made possible by a grant from the NC-DENR Division of Air Quality, which enabled the cooperative to build a small distribution station and purchase a truck for transporting the biodiesel from Lenoir.
For more information, click to www.highcountrybiofuels.googlepages.com.
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