Gretna Pushing Biofuels Project
by John Crane (GoDanRiver.com) The CEO of a company that wants to build commercial refinery that would convert feedstock hopes to locate at Gretna Industrial Park.
The town of Gretna and Ken Moss, CEO of Piedmont BioProducts, will jointly apply for about $1.48 million from Southside Economic Development — a division of the Virginia Tobacco Commission — to develop a site at the industrial park.
…Moss’ $10 million project would convert switch grass and timber byproducts, including wood chips and sawdust, to fuel.
The refinery would be a green-energy facility, turning material from its organic state to oil and bio-char, a concentrated form of carbon. The oil would be for commercial and industrial boilers, with possible future upgrades of the product for use in green gasoline and green diesel.
…Moss hopes to spur local farmers to produce and supply miscanthus for the facility.
Moss’ goal is to build facilities in other areas in the region and state, with a 20-25 mile radius around each site to minimize costs.
“You cannot transport biomass long-distance, economically,” he said. READ MORE
