Biofuel plant may soon come to Berkeley

Image by EcoPlusImage by 20080718ecoplus_coal.jpg The company would turn oils into "white coal" that has Btu values in the range of 5,000 to 11,000+ per pound, roughly comparable to coal.

EcoPlus may soon bring its biofuel production to Berkeley County. The Charlotte-based company has reached an agreement with Berkeley County County Council to establish a location to receive fats, oils and greases from area restaurants. Those products will be converted to a dried biofuel that an be burned like coal.

Currently, processing the oils is an additional cost to the county's wastewater facilities.

The new facility would go on land adjacent to the county's treatment facilities, according to a press release.

The company's existing facility in Charlotte that takes some 200,000 gallons of oils and grease from some 1,300 regional waste producers.

The Post and Courier adds that "the new plant would cost between $5 million and $10 million and employ 15 to 20 people."

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