BioFuels

In late September, the North Carolina Biofuels Center held its first full board meeting. A press release issued by the Center shortly after the meeting captured Commissioner Troxler’s advice to the stakeholders there:

Agriculture Commissioner Steve Troxler said: “When we got into this energy crisis, we looked to agriculture to solve it.” Looking around the board meeting, which was held in a large steel-framed barn at the Biofuels Campus in Oxford , he said: “We are looking forward to the Biofuels Center to be a catalyst to solve the questions around biofuels development so that we can help keep farmers on their farms and grow North Carolina ’s $70 billion a year agribusiness industry.” He underscored the urgency of the mission of the Biofuels Center , especially when measured against the far greater sums of money other southern states such as Georgia and Tennessee were investing in growing their biofuels industry. “We are in a footrace,” he said, “We must not tarry.”

Commissioner Troxler’s commitment to biofuel initiatives is not just a campaign slogan. He has been involved in urging the development and use of biofuels in North Carolina for several years. He also knows that the renewable energy rhetoric is often long on ideals and short on substance.

“The public and private sector must work together to overcome the challenges to large scale biofuel production, and our farmers are a key part of the equation.” Trust me,” Commissioner Troxler has said, “if we want our farmers to lead the charge in solving our energy woes, we have to carefully develop a system that gives them access to a reasonable profit margin. Once that system is in place, they will take care of the rest.”

The following table provides an overview of Commissioner Troxler’s leadership and commitment to establishing a statewide biofuels industry in North Carolina..

Leadership Starts at Home

The Department has worked with the NC Soybean Producers Association to use biodiesel generators and equipment at the State Fair since 2006.
NCDA&CS sought and received a grant from the Tobacco Trust Fund Commission to transition all 18 research stations to the use of biodiesel.
The grant also supported the purchase of small scale bio-processing units for NCDA&CS managed research stations in Salisbury and Goldsboro .
All research stations are now using at least 5% biodiesel (so called “B5”). One station has vehicles that run on B100.
Approximately 8,000 gallons of waste oil from the NC State Fair will be captured, processed, and delivered to research stations for blending.
Some recycled waste oil from the State Fair will ultimately be used in the Department’s Food Distribution Division’s vehicles.
Biodiesel used to heat the Kerr Scott building on the State Fairgrounds.

Involvement in Research Initiatives

A farm-size biodiesel processing unit will be built at the Oxford Tobacco Research Station for processing of waste oil, which will eventually be used by vehicles in the Department’s Research Stations and Food Distribution divisions.
Staff from the Clinton Research Station have assisted for two years in the planting of crops and development of research fields at the Williamsdale Farm Bioenergy Field Lab in Wallace.
Stations are planting oil crops as part of statewide research programs, including: high oil content soybeans at Central Crops (Clayton) and canola at the Central Crops (Clayton) station, Oxford Tobacco, and Upper Piedmont (Reidsville) stations.
Plantings are proposed for this winter at Oxford to support projects with the Biofuels Center of North Carolina and NCSU’s College of Natural Resources .

Partnerships

Actively participated in the development of North Carolina ’s Strategic Plan for Biofuels Leadership.
The Commissioner personally hosted the 2008 Ag Forum, which included a focus on agriculture’s role in the renewable energy portfolio.
Cooperate with the Biofuels Center of North Carolina to develop facilities for the entity at the Oxford Tobacco Research Station in Oxford .
As mentioned above, the Department has worked with the NC Soybean Producers Association to use biodiesel generators and equipment at the State Fair since 2006.
The Department’s Agribusiness Development staff has worked with a number of businesses and cooperatives to evaluate potential to establish new commercial biofuel operations in the state. This same staff also works with local, regional and state economic development agencies to support the development of biofuels companies, identify feedstocks and build relationships within the agricultural community.
Department representatives are involved in the State Energy Policy Council meetings and provide input for discussions on related policy developments.

Cooperative Regulation

The Department’s Motor Fuels laboratory provided much of the laboratory quality testing necessary to ensure that Piedmont Biofuels’ processes were in compliance with ASTM standards. Piedmont Biofuels is a worker and member-owned cooperative that promotes and offers biodiesel fuel created from vegetable oil. (Incidentally, Piedmont Biofuels is also a “Got to Be NC” member!) The Motor Fuels lab went a step further – it provided laboratory results to authenticate the processes being used by Piedmont Biofuels to obtain ISO certification.
The Department’s Standards Division has assisted in testing new biofuels products for quality assurance. The division constantly works to develop expertise and capacity to support the industry.
Commissioner Troxler and the North Carolina Oil and Gas Board approved temporary and then permanent rules to make it easier for fuel distributors to blend ethanol with traditional fuel. While blending was allowed under the previous rules, those rules did not provide for variances from certain specifications that may occur with ethanol blends. The new rules do.