A planned soy biodiesel plant in Mount Olive, N.C., that is being built by a farmers cooperative will get up to $5 million in tobacco settlement funds earmarked to help farmers.
The Golden LEAF Foundation, a board set up with the specific charge to manage tobacco settlement funds, recently announced they will match private investors in the biodiesel plant up to $5 million.
It is a big boost for the Grain Growers Cooperative's drive to erect the plant that could product 15-20 million gallons of biodiesel fuel each year. The group just announced the Mount Olive site where the plant will be built. It is expected to begin producing biodiesel fuel in 2006.
Biodiesel is a clean-burning alternative fuel made from a variety of sources including soybeans, canola oil, cottonseed oil and many other farm crops. It is blended with petroleum diesel and can be used as a fuel in diesel engines with little or no modifications.