Vision would bring European energy-production concept to Pittsylvania County

Southside Virginia makes an ideal site for a refinery that would produce oil from organic feedstock, said the CEO of Piedmont BioProducts in Gretna.

The proposed refinery at Gretna Industrial Park would be in proximity to two-thirds of the U.S. population, said Ken Moss.

“It’s a huge opportunity for this region to produce a product we can ship north and ship south and bring back money to the region,” Moss said Friday.

It would allow the area to export oil and import money back to Southside Virginia, instead of the other way around, Moss said.

Moss’ vision would bring a European energy-production concept to Pittsylvania County. It’s based on a “district heating stations” model, where farmers and localities supply organic biomass and burn material at community-based mini-refineries, delivering hot water and electricity to localities, Moss said.

Instead of sending hot water and electricity to nearby towns, Moss would ship oil outside the region.

Moss’ operation would minimize the costs of transporting feedstock from landowners to his refinery because of its nearness to the county’s farms. Also, moving the oil long distances would be less costly because it is a dense energy source, Moss said.

“Southside Virginia is the perfect location for this mini-refinery fuel technology,” he said.

He hopes to begin construction next year and start operating in late 2012 or early 2013.

Moss’ purpose is to engage Pittsylvania County farmers to grow and provide feedstock, especially miscanthus, a tall, woody grass with large stems, for his refinery. His venture would also convert switch grass and timber byproducts, such as wood chips and sawdust, to oil.

Moss would sell the oil for commercial and industrial boilers, with hopes of later upgrading the product for use in green gasoline and green diesel. He also wants to eventually sell the oil for use as a feedstock for petrochemical replacements, like those used in plastics and fertilizers.

Moss also hopes to expand and built another refinery in southern Pittsylvania County before branching out to other parts of the state. 

Jamie Stowe, extension agent for agriculture and natural resources for the Virginia Cooperative Extension, said the VCE is excited about the prospects of Moss’ endeavor.

“Our producers are interested in any new option that can be profitable and help them remain sustainable,” Stowe said.

Since 2004, Moss has been honing his idea’s efficiency with a pilot refinery. He aims to maximize his refinery’s output and minimize the project’s costs, Moss said.

Moss will start up taking in about 40-50 tons of feedstock to produce about 6,000 gallons of oil per day. Later-phase capacity would make 500 tons into about 60,000 gallons daily, Moss said. If Moss were only using miscanthus, he estimates it would take about 200 farmers to supply a 500-ton intake site.

There are about 1,200 farms in Pittsylvania County, Stowe said. At least 50 people are interested in participating in the project so far, Moss said.

No one has grown miscanthus in Virginia so far, said Jim Pease, professor of agriculture and applied economics at Virginia Tech. The crop offers double the yield per acre to that of switch grass, Pease said.

The more miscanthus yield per acre and the closer Moss’ refinery would be to the farmers, the less he would have to worry about transportation costs, Pease said.

“He’s going to need a lot of feedstock provided by a lot of farmers on a lot of acres,” Pease said.

Moss would supply the miscanthus-planting material and help those planting it. He said he would eliminate the need for them to purchase special equipment, enabling them to plant the miscanthus with a tobacco planter and harvest it with a round hay baler if they get the material from him.  

“It gets very expensive,” Moss said of planting and harvesting miscanthus with specialized equipment.

Because of its low ash content, miscanthus converts to more usable energy than switch grass, Moss said.

Pittsylvania County Farm Bureau President Jay Calhoun said Moss’s venture is an opportunity for farmers to diversify if the profit margins are there.

“I see a big boom potentially for the economy of the county,” Calhoun said.

“People are calling,” Moss said. “They’re interested. They want this to happen.”