Tennessee will soon have its first biodiesel production facility.
The Manchester-based firm Tennessee BioEnergy is currently outfitting a new facility with equipment needed to convert vegetable oil into fuel that can be used in any diesel vehicle. The company plans to use both waste vegetable oil from area restaurants and new oil from locally grown soybeans.
While biodiesel is new to Tennessee, USDA Rural Development state director Ruth Tackett says other states have found it to be an ideal source of renewable energy.
“Biodiesel and fuel alternatives-you see more of that in the Midwestern states, so we’re happy to see some our local businesses and individuals in Tennessee start to really think about alternative fuel sources.”
Tennessee BioEnergy won a 60-thousand dollar Renewable Energy grant from the USDA to operate the plant, the first grant of its kind to be awarded to a Tennessee firm.
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