This 1920’s Standard Oil/Exxon-Mobil terminal is being converted to a state of the art, closed-loop, cradle-to-cradle waste recycling and alternative energy production and distribution facility. The site has 400,000 gallons total storage capacity, plus a rail spur, containment field, oil/water separator, loading arms, and transfer pumps, with a four-garage bay building and 12,000 square feet of warehouse and office space.
Currently, waste vegetable oil from local restaurants is being converted to biodiesel, and all byproducts are being recycled on site. The campus will also be used to train young adults in green business technologies and sustainable livelihoods, through work with several local NGO’s like Clean Energy Durham, SURGE, YIKES and SEEDS, and Green Durham.
Several green businesses occupy the site, including: Orange Recycling Services (the Triangle’s largest commercial recycling company), Carolina Biodiesel (a biofuel distribution company), Greenway Transit (a green transportation business), , Biologix (a restaurant waste recycling company); My Taller (a mechanics shop) and The Forest Foundation (a non-profit working in environmental education and sustainable business development). Funding is coming from loans, donations, grants, investors and income reinvested from revenue generated by these green businesses.
Plans exist for: a chemical lab for testing; a trap grease oil floatation and dewatering system; a solar hot water system for the biodiesel operation; awnings over windows and doors to reduce thermal gain in the summer; geothermal cooling and heating system, converting an old elevator shaft into a water storage tank; a green roof/urban garden and water cistern collection and recycling. Site boasts: composting toilet, biodiesel heating furnace (B50-100) and energy efficient lighting, using T5 CFLs.
We are conducting green collar workshops and trainings at the Campus after school and on Weekends. These will be listed on the Greenway Transit events calendar. Request a full list and application through e-mail at info@theforesfoundation.org.