The State - 18 June 2006
A biodiesel plant is planned for an unused warehouse at a former Navy base to make the alternative, cheaper, cleaner fuel that will can be used to power diesel cars and school buses.
The North Charleston plant will use waste vegetable oil from hundreds of area restaurants to make the fuel that can be used in just about any diesel engine. The lease agreement was signed Thursday between the Noisette Co. and Charleston-based Southeast Biodiesel.
Plant owner Dean Schmelter, a chemist who owns chemical-processing businesses in the Southeast, said the plant was born out of an effort to create a fuel alternative for his car. “Last summer, I was talking to my diesel mechanic at Black Forest Imports in Mount Pleasant. I was complaining about the high cost of fuel, and he said, ‘Well, you’re a chemist. Do something about it.’ “