<span id="lblNoFrames"><h1>BRBJ_July 27 2009</h1><br/>23 BLUE RIDGE BUSINESS JOURNAL - JULY 27, 2009 now the company has scaled back production from its capacity of 8,000 gallons per day to 50,000 per month. When demand returns, as Price predicts, so should interest in investing in biodiesels. “I think that when you look at the vision that is coming from this administration, the emphasis is on locally owned, small-scale bio-refineries near the interstate,” Price adds. “Truck stop owners and farmers will be the sheiks in America in the years to come. … It’s really going to be a game change for clean energy. We’re sitting on an economic boon.” Solar, wind and geothermal are among the opportunities with the most potential among the alternative energy industries in the near term, according to Green Chips Stocks founder Jeff Siegel in his 2008 report. Green Chips tracks trends in investing in green businesses and predicted biofuels would be a money-maker in the longer term. “I think that when you look at the vision that is coming from this administration, the emphasis is on locally owned, smallscale bio-refineries near the interstate. Truck stop owners and farmers will be the sheiks in America in the years to come. … It’s really going to be a game change for clean energy” – Dean Price, owner of Red Birch Energy of Martinsville, a biodiesel truck stop that now includes an onsite plant Electrical Alliance contractors and electricians score the highest when its comes to green building know-how. Two of our contractors helped the Sidwell Friends School middle school renovation earn a Platinum LEED certifi cation for green building. This achievement included an automated lighting system that adjusts light levels to the amount of sunlight coming through classroom windows—a 10–15% energy savings. To meet new LEED building standards, specify an Electrical Alliance member. For a list of member companies, go to www.electricalalliance.org We’re well-schooled in building green. Electrical Alliance contractors and electricians score the highest when its comes to green building know-how. Two of our contractors helped the Sidwell Friends School middle school renovation earn a Platinum LEED certifi cation for green building. This achievement included an automated lighting system that adjusts light levels to the amount of sunlight coming through classroom windows—a 10–15% energy savings. To meet new LEED building standards, specify an Electrical Alliance member. For a list of member companies, go to www.electricalalliance.org We’re well-schooled in building green. “These truly are exciting times,” Siegel says in his 2008 report. “And fortunes stand to be made by investing in the right companies proving the energy for the 21st century.” Investors have also started to eye Jeremy Hayes’ wind turbine business based in Afton. Less than 15 percent of Virginia’s counties have legislation that allows for wind turbines on residential property. Lack of laws has cut deep into the profit potential for Hayes’ Skyline Turbine until recently, when more counties have opened their policies, including Virginia Beach earlier this month, he notes. Hayes, who also owns a construction company that is about to become LEED-certified for green designs, started Skyline about three years ago as he watched interest in alternative energy take off. So far, he has sunk only personal capital into the business and has not seen a significant return. But, with a long list of clients ready to install wind turbines when laws loosen as they just did in Virginia Beach, nearly a dozen private investors are on the sidelines wanting to be a part of the trend. Hayes plans to start meeting with them in late July and is also hoping for grant funding. “We’re just at a point now where things are starting to move as far as sales,” says Hayes, who is linked to 12 wind turbine manufacturers. “I’m pretty optimistic about their interest and where this whole business is going. … Investors have been finding me and asking more how they can become involved. I’ve had quite a number of people express interest.” Hayes adds he would welcome more funds for marketing. (Rebecca McClay is a former staff reporter for The Gazette newspaper group and a current freelance business reporter based in Ijamsville, MD.)</span>