History // Board of Directors
History
Cape Fear Biofuels evolved from a small chemistry project in Dobo Hall on the
campus of the University of North Carolina Wilmington. We started with a small
"appleseed" reactor and produced small quantities of fuel. The project generated a
significant amount of interest within the university and we decided to expand our
project into a community wide organization.
Given this groundswell of support, we signed on to host a biodiesel production
workshop at Wilmington's Earth Day event in 2005. The local paper (Wilmington
Star News) put us on the front page which generated great publicity for alternative
fuels in our area. Over the next year we held a series of meetings and began
hosting various public education seminars. We also began working to create the
legal framework of the cooperative.
In October 2005, we officially incorporated as a non-profit within the state of North
Carolina. Since 2005 our membership has steadily increased to approximately 80
individuals and businesses.
Sale of B99.9 (99.9% biodiesel) to our members began on Earth Day 2006. The
opening of our pumping facility marks the first pump east of I-95 in North Carolina.
Since Earth Day we've sold 4,000 gallons of biodiesel, resulting in a 40 ton
reduction of emissions in our area.