NC ZOO RECEIVES STATE EMISSIONS-REDUCTION GRANT

[the_ain...@yahoo.com]

Asheboro - The North Carolina Zoo has been awarded a 2005 Mobile Source
Emissions-Reduction Grant for $23,000 from its parent state agency, the
North Carolina Department of Environment & Natural Resources (DENR).

The grant will enable the zoo to continue its project of replacing its
current petroleum fuels with biodiesel, a mixture of biofuel made from
vegetable oil and diesel. The zoo plans to use the grant to have a
biofuel company design and build a biofuel processor capable of
converting used vegetable oil from the zoo's food operations into
12,000 gallons per year of clean-burning, renewable B20 biodiesel (20%
biofuel, 80% diesel). The B20 will fuel a majority of the zoo's
trams, buses and other equipment.

The normal transportation of zoo visitors and the routine zoo staff use
of vehicles and equipment result in the use of about 26,000 gallons of
diesel fuel per year. That generates significant mobile-source air
emissions. The use of B20 fuel will result in an estimated 12 percent
reduction of carbon monoxide, 20 percent of toxic contaminants, 20
percent of sulfur dioxide and 20 percent of hydrocarbons--compared to
petroleum diesel.

In addition, the zoo will promote the use of biodiesel through its
extensive educational exhibits, graphics and programs. These include
graphics on the trams and buses, an educational cart on biofuels and
other green practices at the zoo, a Web page on biofuels
(http://www.nczoo.org/biofuels) and teacher workshops.

Once the zoo has successfully processed the used vegetable oil from its
restaurants into biofuel and used it to fuel its vehicles and
equipment, the zoo plans to expand the project to produce all the
biofuels it needs by developing partnerships with local fast-food
operations to obtain the necessary used vegetable oil.

The zoo is currently purchasing B100 fuel (100% biofuel) which is mixed
with diesel to produce B20 as part of a grant from the North Carolina
Solar Center.

The N.C. Zoo is the only ISO 14001 (Environmental Management Systems)
-certified state agency; reducing gasoline and diesel use that produces
a significant amount of air contamination is part of the zoo's EMS
program.

The zoo is a leader in green practices and sustainability and last year
received the State Government Sustainability Award-- presented by the
state energy office and North Carolina Project Green--for its
commitment to environmental stewardship.