| Dragon Run Biodiesel Project |
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| Photo Source: MPPDC, http://www.mppdc.com/dragon/index.shtml |
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| Photo: Middle Peninsula in Virginia. Source: MPPDC, Yellow Wood Study |
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Located in the Middle Peninsula of Virginia, the Dragon Run Watershed encompasses parts of Essex, King and Queen, Middlesex, and Gloucester Counties. "The Dragon Run Steering Committee, the Middle Peninsula Planning District Commission (MPPDC), and the Virginia Coastal Program are co-sponsoring the development of a Special Area Management Plan, or SAMP, for the Dragon Run Watershed." The SAMP's purpose is to "support and promote community-based efforts to preserve the cultural, historic, and natural character of the Dragon Run, while preserving property rights and the traditional uses within its watershed" (Source: MPPDC).
As part of the Dragon Run Special Area Management Plan managed by the Middle Peninsula Planning District Commission (MPPDC), a study titled “Opportunities for Sustainable Natural Resource-Based Development in the Dragon Run Watershed” (referred hereafter as the Yellow Wood study) was conducted in October 2005. The overall purpose of the project was to identify and explore economic development activities and opportunities that sustain traditional land uses while enhancing the natural resource base or at least minimizing adverse impacts. Seven areas were selected for further exploration, including biodiesel utilization (and production) for municipal vehicles. The Yellow Wood study found biodiesel utilization to be an example of enterprise that fits within the overall goal of sustainable natural resource-based economic development for the Watershed, whether carried out within the public or private sectors.
As a result, Virginia Clean Cities was contracted by the MPPDC to continue further exploration of biodiesel market viability and present recommendations based on survey summaries and stakeholder interest detailing potential to fulfill the goal to provide sustainable natural resource-based economic benefit to the watershed community centered around the use and production of biodiesel as a cleaner, healthier, domestic alternative to fossil fuel.
Virginia Clean Cities is currently working on a variety of tasks related to this project, and will post all reports after project completion in October 2007.
To learn more about the Dragon Run SAMP, visit http://www.mppdc.com/dragon/whatSAMP.shtml.
To download the Yellowood Study, visit http://www.mppdc.com/dragon/index.shtml.
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Biodiesel in Dragon Run: Roadmap to Preservation |
Resources and Fact Sheets |
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This work was funded by the Virginia Coastal Zone Management Program at the Department of Environmental Quality through Grant # NA06NOS4190241 Task 95 of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Office of Ocean and Coastal Resource Management, under the Coastal Zone Management Act of 1972, as amended. The views expressed are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of NOAA or any of its subagencies. |
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