NORTH CAROLINA HOGS TO GENERATE ELECTRICITY

Ground was broken in December on a nearly $100m facility in Warsaw, North Carolina which will utilize swine waste and other byproducts to generate natural gas.  The process, known as Carbon Cycle Energy, will pump the methane gas to Duke Energy power plants throughout North Carolina.  In 2007, North Carolina became the first state in the Southeast to adopt a renewable energy mandate for electric utilities which included the utilization of hog waste and poultry droppings.  If all goes well, the new Duplin County plant should satisfy the 2007 mandate and provide approximately 2/3 of the hog waste natural gas required by its first-year goals.  Better late, than never.