Henry County biodiesel plant could soon help you save cash

By Lindsey Henley
WSLS10 Reporter
Published: April 1, 2008

    Buckets of canola could soon save you buckets of money if you use diesel fuel.
  “Our plan is we’re going to take to this seed, crush the seed, get the oil out of it, and then take that oil, and make biodiesel out of it,“ said Dean Price who owns two Red Birch Truck Stops in Henry County.
    Next door to the Red Birch off Rt. 220 in Basset, Price just built a million dollar biodiesel plant called Red Birch Energy.
    The biodiesel will be sold for about 15 cents cheaper than regular diesel.
    “My background was in farming, and I had been in the truck stop business, so we started putting the two pieces of the puzzle together and said why don’t we start trying to grow our own crops and we’ll sell them here at the truck stop,“ he said.
    So far, the company is working with more than 20 local farmers to grow the canola crop.
    Not only is biodiesel made from canola, but it’s also made from materials like soybean and animal fat. 
    “We’ll be the first closed-loop delivery system of bio-fuels in the entire country, and we’re very proud of that,“ he said.  “We grow it, we make it, and we sell it.“
    And it will ultimately make our air cleaner, our environment greener, and your trips cheaper.