Coop
Our friends at the National Center for Appropriate Technology helped us put together this Energy Use Report during a visit in early 2007. Thanks NCAT!
Piedmont Biofuels is a worker and member owned cooperative. Our mission is to lead the grassroots sustainability movement in North Carolina by using and encouraging the use of clean, renewable biofuels.We are involved in a wide variety of undertakings in support of this mission:
- We provide pure biodiesel (B100) to the community.
- We maintain a top quality biodiesel plant where worker-members can make their own fuel from waste vegetable oil which we collect locally.
- We have a USDA Registered Research Farm where we do oilseed crop research and run a market garden for wholesale and our local farmer’s market.
- We have an elaborate glycerin vermi-composting project.
- We do education and outreach on both biodiesel and engine modifications that enable people to use straight vegetable oil (SVO) as fuel.
- We lobby the North Carolina legislature, as well as our national representatives, on behalf of biodiesel and alternative fuels. Check out our Policy Page.
- We have an intern program that allows people to live on site and learn about all facets of our operations.
Becoming a Member
Becoming a member-owner of the coop entitles you to buy biodiesel from the coop or learn how to make your own using our equipment. Signing up is easy. Just read the membership agreement and send a signed copy to us digitally by clicking the submit button. Then you will be redirected to a page where you can securely pay your $50 membership fee by credit card (we also accept check payments).
The Short Movie
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Homebrew is a short documentary movie about the coop created by Andjelia Barton at the Duke Center for Documentary Studies. |
Member Biographies
Piedmont Biofuels is a loose confederation of individuals and entities. Here are the bios of some of the people you might bump into around the place if you dropped in unannounced.
Andy is a frisbee fanatic. When he is not dominating ultimate games he is designing disc golf courses. Had he come from California he would surely have been a surfer. But he came from Guilford County, where he pioneered a biofuels class. Now he works at Central Carolina Community College, where he is working on installing a disc golf course, and running both the biofuels program and developing the green building curriculum.
Rachel is our latest board member. On the back of her TDI is a bumpersticker which talks about how biodiesel is “sexy.” She is also known for the pecan trees which grace her land. Whenever you see people shelling pecans in the front yard of the coop–chances are they came from Rachel’s place.
Jurgen is the eyes and ears of Durham, who sits in on coop board meetings when he can. He’s a homebrewer, with a wide sweeping blog who keeps us in touch with the Durham scene.
David Thorton
David is the design-build king. He buys a lot of tanks, plumbs a lot of tanks, and is a competent wheeler-dealer. What he buys for a dollar, he sells for a dollar, but he is intent that he will make it up in volume. He’s also run fuel making at the coop, lends a hand teaching biofuels down at the college, and is the one who introduced frisbee golf to the folks on the other side of the creek.
Evan Ashworth
University of Chicago survivor from Trenton, N.J. Thrilled to be living his lifelong dream of playing with cranes and driving a big yellow truck. Evan runs the fuel distribution business at Industrial. Every time he comes back from delivering bulk fuel to farmers he is convinced on the need to arial spray toxins to increase farm productivity. We tend to coax him back into the “sustainability track.” When he is not driving around in his mirrored sunglasses, he is leading tours at the coop, or clubbing big grants for stuff.
Rachel Burton
AKA Wrenchwench. Board President, fuel maker, teacher, sustainable farming graduate. Fearless mechanic and activist. Rachel is extremely popular and enjoys being referred to by her adopted name: In Charge. She drives a 1989 Dodge pickup diesel known as the Grease Goat and an awfully new Jetta Wagon on B100. Loves to do Elsbett conversions, and runs the lab at Industrial.
Dr. Lyle Estill
President of Stuff for Piedmont Biofuels. Award winning sculptor, entrepreneur and CEO. Afraid of cars and trucks. Alchemist, metallurgist, boot strap financier. Student. Fuel maker. Writer of Energy Blog. Energetic immigrant who tends to over-stimulate those he meets with even short doses of exposure. Drives the Silver Ghost which he bought from Johnny, loves to drive Creampuff when it starts, and has donated many Dodge miles to the project. Wants to be more popular than Rachel.
Scott Every
Our landlord. Provides hosting space and free computer help. Also patience, computers, bandwidth and encouragement. Brilliant computer programmer. Open Source wireless Internet guru. Owns a diesel Mercedes wagon. Reader, editor. Extremely generous with both time and spirit. Runs Blast Internet, who does Piedmont’s website and IT services.
Leif Forer
Academic. Large brained biodieselist, fuel maker, teacher, known for decomplexifying entire designs and situations. Leif is deft with all things mechanical. Co-op enthusiast, social critic, philosopher, ethicist, activist. Drives a pretty new Golf. One of the nicer cars on project. Carrboro junkie, Leif is Industrial’s Chief of Engineering.
Johnny Frye
Self taught diesel mechanic. Heavy equipment operator from Mt. Airy. Johnny can fix anything. Teaches the Diesel Technology classes at the College. Natural born used car salesman, with an infectious enthusiasm for biofuels.
Bill Knighton
Machinist, off grid enthusiast, experimenter with both storebought and homemade biodiesel in his home heating system. Runs photovoltaics, solenoid designer, wraps his own electro magnets in a pinch. Author of Leaving the Grid.
Oneas Mufandaedza
Dr. Feedstock. PhD researcher from Zimbabwe who moved to Garner. He still grows crops of all descriptions. Experiments with sunflowers, oilseed radish, and mustard.
Don Mueller
Caterpillar engineer. Quality fanatic. The guy who snapped a dessicant filter on the Tami Tank. Renewable energy genius who calculates amp hours in his head. Drives a bright red Jetta and the Westfalia pictured above.
Matt Rudolf
Executive Director of the Coop. Matt is the leading voice of the latinos at Piedmont Biofuels, and is often found haggling for waste veggie at the local mexican restaurant when not explaining transesterification to immigrant workers. Reactor designer/builder, shade tree mechanic, part chemical engineer, part real estate developer, psychologist and teacher. Matt drives a green 1997 VW Passat TDI.
Tami Schwerin
Soccer Mom in a 2003 Jetta Wagon running on B100. Organizer, social convener, party planner, high powered corporate marketer. Cooks dinner, designs houses. Known for her infinite patience with Piedmont Biofuels. Graphic artist, designer, supporter. Often hungry for her bed. Hot tub enthusiast, documentary film maker. President of Chatham Marketplace. Founder of Industrial’s Renewable Energy Credits Division.
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