Biodiesel Billboards

Grant Will Promote Biodiesel via Billboards

The NC Solar Center's Clean Transportation program at NC State University was approved two years funding from the NC Soybean Producers Association to conduct a biodiesel marketing and research project. Nearly $20,000 will be issued in year one for billboards designed to educate North Carolina's motoring public about biodiesel. An additional $35,000 is being contributed as cost share by the NC Outdoor Advertising Association (NCOAA).
"The program's success really stems from the cooperation and contributions from all of the partners involved. We are very fortunate to have the NC Soybean Producers Association's interest in promoting biodiesel, and NCOAA's generous donation of the billboard space throughout the state," said Bryan Roy, the Solar Center's project manager for the campaign.



Biodiesel is a clean burning alternative fuel, produced from domestic, renewable resources. Biodiesel contains no petroleum, but it can be blended at any level with petroleum diesel to create a biodiesel blend. It can be used in diesel engines with little or no modifications. Biodiesel is easy to use, biodegradable, non-toxic and virtually free of sulfur and aromatics.

New sites carrying biodiesel have recently opened in Charlotte and Shelby, and a truck stop with six B20 (20 percent Biodiesel/80 percent petroleum diesel) pumps also recently opened off I-77 in Statesville at Homer's Truckstop. Large in-state production of soy diesel is slated for the near future as well. However, in order to attract other marketers to offer new sites and for current stations to prosper, sales must increase.

NCOAA will donate the display space of six large vinyl billboards located near major highways where stations have chosen to sell biodiesel, and 30 poster billboards that will display a message to the motoring public about the benefits and availability of biodiesel.



The campaign will start in April and run through the end of the year. Billboards will highlight the NC Soybean Producers Association's website, www.ncsoy.org, which features basic facts, retail locations and distributors of biodiesel around the state. A link will also be added to the Solar Center's Clean Transportation program webpage to provide information resources on the characteristics and benefits of biodiesel. A student of the College of Management at NCSU will research the effectiveness of the billboard campaign using the website traffic along with other various surveying methods.

The second year will feature a "Bioheat is Better" campaign to increase the awareness and use of Biodiesel blended heating oil. Bioheat, or fuel oil blended with soy biodiesel, is an environmentally preferable choice for consumers and attractive for fuel distributors alike due to a federal tax incentive that provides a one dollar per gallon credit for every gallon of soy biodiesel blended with heating oil. The Clean Transportation Program will oversee the design of brochures and organize meetings geared toward heating oil fuel distributors, facilities managers and the general public.

B20 Now Avialble In Asheville

Blue Ridge Biofuels is now offering B20 at its west Asheville fueling station. We will continue to offer B99.9 (B70 during winter) and continue our commitment to support the B100 community.

This is the first public B20 pump in western North Carolina!
Our multi-product pump, located at 405 Haywood Road, now dispenses B20, B50, and B85.
B85 will soon be replaced by B99.9.

Blue Ridge Biofuels believes that displacing as much petroleum as possible is the best service we can offer to move closer towards petroleum independence. We believe that many fleets will up their tolerance to higher blends as time goes on and hope that we can be instrumental in encouraging higher blend use in fleets currently willing to use B20.



Blue Ridge Biofuels
109 Roberts Street
Asheville, NC 28801
voice (828) 253-1034
fax (828) 253-3015
www.blueridgebiofuels.com