Oxford Biodiesel Plant Commissioned
(Biofuels Center of North Carolina) The Oxford Biodiesel Plant is capable of converting virgin or recycled fats and oils from multiple sources into 35,000 gallons of high quality biodiesel per year. The plant was constructed on North Carolina’s Biofuels Campus and commissioned in May 2012. The North Carolina Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services’ Oxford Tobacco Research Station will operate the plant to produce a significant portion of its annual diesel fuel needs using recycled cooking oil from the State Fair, other smaller events, and from crops grown and crushed at North Carolina’s Biofuels Campus.
The facility has 15,000 gallons of storage capacity in a 1,200-square-foot tank farm, nearly 3,200 square feet of heated space for current operations and future expansion, and a modest quality control laboratory. In addition to being a working biodiesel plant, the facility will serve as an educational resource to farmers and the public.
The Oxford Biodiesel Plant is the second component of North Carolina’s Biofuels Campus, a partnership between the Center and the North Carolina Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. Over the next decade, the Campus will take shape as the nation’s only large-acreage site for biofuels trial-growing, company incubation and partnerships, demonstration and pilot facilities, and public education. READ MORE
