The coop is a lot of things- a biofuels education center, an internship program, a test site for future research and development, and we are proud that it is still a place where a person can go and make a batch of fuel. Every Tuesday night at 5:30pm worker-members, interns and Piedmont employees meet at the coop to make a batch of fuel from waste vegetable oil collected from local restaurants.

While we always have a few old hands that can run a batch with their eyes closed, we also often have some new faces who get to see the production process first hand, and geek out with our knowledgeable members, interns, and employees about all things biodiesel. We also occasionally have other projects that need to be done, such as plumbing, cleaning, and redesigning a part of the system, and it’s always a great brainstorming session for everyone.

Tuesday night fuel making has become a tradition over the course of the last two years that has allowed us to expand biodiesel fuel production at the coop. Coop members that participate in community fuel making are allowed to drive home on the previous week’s fuel for our at-cost price.
So if you are looking for some hands on experience, or just want to hang out with some biodiesel buddies and talk shop, consider dropping by for Community Fuel Making. It is every Tuesday night at 5:30 - be on time if you’re new because a lot of the interesting stuff happens within the first half hour. If you have questions, send us an email at matt@biofuels.coop or give us a call at (919) 533-0172.

We have also found that a lot of people like our batch worksheet, so we decided to share it with the world. Help yourself, and send people our way if they have questions.

Also, we often times find people want to come and spend a day, a week or a lifetime hanging out and learning our system of fuel production. Spend a week with us and you’ll make more biodiesel than many homebrewers make in 6 months. Spend a month and you might tick off a thousand gallons or more. We offer this as a consulting service, and ask that you become a member of the coop, and our consulting fees are the following:

$150/day, 1-4 days
$125/day, 5+ days

We have housing available for those that need it for $50/night.