Bio Energy

Bio Energy or commonly known bio fuels is the result of processing biomass (recently living organic matter) into a stable, transportable efficient fuel source. Bio energy in addition to being renewable has a number of benefits including costs, a reduction of greenhouse gasses and utilizes local plant or organic resources that are generally ignored, wasted or left in the fields to decay.

Carolina Land and Lakes believes that utilization of bioenergy compliments the current use of fossil fuel and should be included in the mix of renewables like solar and wind. We believe that bio energy produced from locally sourced materials is a win- win situation for the residents, industries and farmers in our 7 county regions. In supporting a bio energy platform, we are striving to provide a cost effective solution to the utilization of locally available bio mass, a reduction of harmful greenhouse gasses and other cost benefits to our current and prospective partners.

A current example is Pellets for Pullets where we are exploring through the use of several beta sites, the use of wood pellets made from the leftover saw dust and shavings from a hardwood flooring plant and noneconomic by-products from tree removal and harvesting. This bio mass could potentially come from local state and federal lands where forest regeneration and fire and forest conservation efforts require tree removal.

Carolina Land and Lakes is dedicated to assisting small business owners and farmers achieve their goals for energy efficiency and renewable energy.

With funding from the NC Department of Agriculture, Carolina Land and Lakes has been working on a new project with exciting potential. CLL works with 7 chicken farms in Alexander, Burke, Caldwell and Surry Counties to replace propane heat with new wood pellet heat. The farmers have seen a reduction in mortality rate and an increase in the bird weight because of the cleaner emissions. We are working with Appalachian State University, and North Carolina State University to do the data collection and reporting. Pellets for Pullets is funded by a grant from the North Carolina Department of Agriculture's Bioenergy Research Initiative.