programs » renewable resources

The Energy Office supports several programs that utilize biomass, solar, and wind energy sources.

The State Energy Office supports

Biomass Programs

Agricultural and Crop Residues
An assessment of agricultural and wood residues is being conducted by North Carolina A&T University. Surveys have been administered to farmers and wood harvesting operations. Results of these surveys and associated research are documenting typical crop residues and wood wastes as well as the energy content of typical crop and forest waste materials. A biomass workshop and overview publication will also be produced as part of this project.

Ethanol from Swine Waste
The Ethanol from Swine Waste Project, conducted at North Carolina State University, has evaluated the feasibility of converting swine waste to ethanol or an ethanol based liquid fuel. The project has focused on both the technical issues and economic implications of various swine waste gasification options. Evaluations of swine waste energy content, waste handling logistics, gasification parameters, fuel grade gases and liquid fuels produced as a result of gasification, and ash product have been completed. View the final report, RE-Cycle: The Production of Liquid Fuels from Swine Waste.

Landfill Gas Projects
North Carolina has over 130 municipal, county and private landfills. Methane gases from these landfills can be recovered to power industries and businesses. The State Energy Office works with the Environmental Protection Agency's Landfill Methane Outreach Program (LMOP), a voluntary assistance and partnership program that promotes the use of landfill gas as a renewable, green energy. Several projects already operate in the state.

Yancey-Mitchell Counties
The first successful landfill gas project was developed in 1999 under the auspices of the Blue Ridge Resource Conservation and Development Council, Inc. and several other partners. EnergyXchange provides electricity for a pottery kiln and greenhouse near Burnsville.

Jackson County Green Energy Park
Landfill gas from the closed Jackson County Landfill is be converted to usable energy powering powering glass furnaces, pottery kilns, and heat for a regional arts and crafts center building. Based loosely on the model of the successful EnergyXchange in Yancey County, it servse as a community-based initiative promotion additional enterpreneurial arts and crafts ventures, educational opportunities, and regional tourism.

Maps of all 132 landfills in North Carolina are available in electronic format from the State Energy Office (statewide map with all landfill locations). Please contact Information and Referral Center at 1-800-662-7131 to place your order.
Examples
Burke County Map (222kb)
 Pitt County Map (222kb)
 Polk County Map (190kb)

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Solar Programs

Cape Lookout PV Hybrid Power System
The Cape Lookout PV hybrid power system is located at Morris Marina Fish Camp on Portsmouth Island of the Cape Lookout National Seashore. The camp has six duplex rental cabins and a caretaker's cabin, all powered by the PV hybrid power system. The system has a 4 kW solar photovoltaic (PV) array and a 6.5 kW propane generator for generating electricity for the whole camp. The PV hybrid power system was constructed at Morris Marina Fish Camp to reduce the camp's consumption of liquefied propane fuel. The PV hybrid power system reduces propane consumption in two ways, by increasing the generator's operating efficiency and by cutting generator run time in half. The majority of the reduced consumption comes from reduced generator run time. It cost about $4 per gallon to get propane to Morris Marina Fish Camp so the PV hybrid power system reduces propane costs by about $4,000 per year. A final report on this project is available online.

North Carolina Solar Center
The State Energy Office supplies major funding for the North Carolina Solar Center, a research demonstration and educational center operated by the Industrial Extension Service at North Carolina State University (N.C.S.U.). The N.C. Solar Center provides technical support and outreach in solar, wind, alternative fuels, biomass, and green building technologies. The N.C. Solar House and the Alternative Fuel Vehicle demonstration facility are operated at the N.C.S.U. McKimmon Center to showcase renewable technologies and are open to the public.

Solar technolgoy services offered through the Solar Center include:

Video of North Carolina Solar House

Million Solar Roofs Initiative (MSRI)
The State Energy Office actively participated in the funding and establishment of the Million Solar Roofs Initiative in North Carolina. Seven community partnerships have been formed across the state: Asheville and surrounding counties, the Town of Chapel Hill, the city and county of Durham, Guilford County, Watauga County, Wilmington, and Mecklenberg County.

In the fall of 2005, the federal Million Solar Roofs Initiative was prematurely ended. However, many of the community organizations are still active. For more information, please visit www.ncsolar.net.

The new Solar America Initiative will accelerate the development of advanced PV materials with the goal of making it cost-competitive with other forms of renewable electricity by 2015.

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Wind Energy Programs

North Carolina Wind Maps
Developed with funding from the S.E.O. through TrueWind Solutions, an internationally recognized wind map consultant, this is a geographical interface systems type map with imbedded wind data for the entire state including sound and offshore areas. Data on wind frequencies for various heights above ground level are available for points across the state to a resolution of 200 meters by 200 meters. Graphical wind directional information (wind roses) is also available from this map. Detailed maps for 24 western North Carolina counties are available.

Example

Coastal wind assessment
Efforts will use the wind data potential available from the North Carolina Wind Maps to develop more detailed maps that address infrastructure, land use, and environmental issues. The Coastal NC Wind Working Group is an active, collaborative body through which key issues facing wind development in the region are being addressed. The focus of the CWWG is to address key issues specific to coastal wind resource development, as well as, to educate and excite local stakeholders and national developers about the strong potential for wind energy development on the outer banks, along the coast, and in the sounds of eastern North Carolina..

Western North Carolina Wind Programs
The State Energy Office is working with Appalachian State University on the following projects to assess the potential for wind energy in the western part of North Carolina. A variety of wind data is available at their N.C. Wind Site.

Wind attitude surveys have been completed for North Carolina's wind areas by Appalachian State University (pdf), as well as a report assessing potential avian impacts from wind projects in North Carolina.

The NC Anemometer Loan Program is one of the first programs of its kind in the country. The purpose of this program is to help develop a better understanding of the wind resources in North Carolina, and to provide information to interested land owners about the viability of producing electricity with residential scale wind technology on their property.

Workshops and other training activities are one way the North Carolina Small Wind Initiative strives to advance wind power adoption in the western region of the state. Making use of the unique Small Wind Research and Demonstration Faciltiy, the SWI holds workshops for all levels of interest on the "ins-and-outs" of small-scale wind power. To see the 2007 schedule of classes, download their brochure (pdf).

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