The Secret Second Life of Dorothea Dix Sunflowers

Business News/Analysis, Farming/Growing, Feedstocks, Field/Orchard/Plantation Crops/Residues, grants, Infrastructure, North Carolina, Sustainability

July 20, 2022

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by Liz McLaughlin (WRAL) … After the flowers wilt in the fall, Raleigh Water workers will harvest the plants to create biodiesel.

“We’ll extract the seeds from the flowers and we’ll take it back to our Neuse River Resource Recovery Facility and process them into biofuel that can be used to operate our farming equipment at our facility,” said Ed Buchan with Raleigh Water. “We have over 1100 acres of land out there that we’ve been farming since 1976,” he said.

The environmental efforts are the result of a grant from the state of North Carolina years ago to pilot test the process. Raleigh Water was able to acquire equipment that can process the sunflower seeds and extract the oils.

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Buchan says Raleigh Water applies wastewater to the farmland to grow sunflowers and corn, among other crops, that can take up nutrients from the biosolids and be harvested to provide a fuel source. After having problems with flower-hunting trespassers at the facility, Raleigh Water teamed up with Raleigh Parks, Recreation and Cultural Resources to create a public sunflower field at Dorothea Dix Park.

198,000 seeds were planted in May to create this Summer’s batch of flowers. Buchan says they will likely harvest them in October. READ MORE; includes VIDEO

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