Pilot project converts abandoned land in New Orleans to sunflower farm for biodiesel

In Louisiana, the New Orleans Redevelopment Authority has commenced development of a pilot program that will turn abandoned sections of the city into sunflower farms that will be harvested for biodiesel. The initial pilot project will utilize five abandoned lots near the Superdome, home to refugees from Hurricane Katrina when the city was submerged by flooding waters from Lake Pontchartrain in late 2004.

The pilot project’s biodiesel will be combined with local waste vegetable oil and distributed in the community. 40 to 50 percent of lots in some New Orleans neighborhoods are still abandoned following Katrina’s devastation, according to project developers GTECH Strategies.

Free Subscription to the Daily Biofuels Digest e-newsletter

Related Stories

Pennsylvania project to convert abandoned mine land to energy crops proposed

In Pennsylvania, two professors at Penn State have developed a project to utilize mining land to grow switchgrass, big bluestem grass and other energy crops. The project will examine the cost effectiv...

Sean Penn to lead biodiesel-powered Dirty Hands Caravan from California to Louisiana

In California, actor and activist Sean Penn announced plans to lead a biodiesel-powered, 300 person, 1800 mile caravan from California to New Orleans. The Dirty Hands caravan will leave Southern Calif...

Bizminded proposes 110,000 hectare project in the Phillipines

In the Philippines, Bizminded Concepts has proposed a 110,000 hectare, 20 Mgy biodiesel project to the Regional Development Council in Western Visayas his company’s intention to operate in the regio...

Companhia do Buzi and Galp Energia partner in biodiesel project for Mozambique

In Mozambique, Companhia do Buzi and Galp Energia announced plans to construct a jatropha- and sunflower-based biodiesel refinery project that will be located in Sofala province. The project is expect...

Today in Biofuels Opinion: “Displacing gasoline with ethanol would require a huge diversion of increasingly scarce water resources.”

From the Christian Science Monitor: "Projects planting sunflowers in vacant lots are already under way in New Orleans and Pittsburgh. And expansion to Cleveland may be next. Scientists aren’t necess...

Special Report on Cellulosic Ethanol: Japan veers from rice, aims for farm waste as CE feedstock in $32 million pilot project

In Japan, the agriculture ministry has been hard at work identifying potential projects to convert agricultura; waste to ethanol, in support of a small ethanol usage commitment from the national gover...