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Chevrolet invests in greenhouse energy conversion

Chevrolet shows support for Metrolina Greenhouses in its effort to use renewable biomass to heat its 6.1-million-square-foot facility in Huntersville, N.C.

Suzanne Ashe
Suzanne Ashe has been covering technology, gadgets, video games, and cars for several years. In addition to writing features and reviews for magazines and Web sites, she has contributed to daily newspapers.
Suzanne Ashe

Chevrolet revealed more details regarding one of 16 new "green" projects the company is funding. Chevrolet is helping Metrolina Greenhouses, in Huntersville, N.C., convert its heat source from natural gas to renewable biomass, the company said in a press release.

Metrolina Greenhouses is a 6.1-million-square-foot facility--the equivalent of 120 football fields--and is now expected to burn 36,000 tons of waste wood from land clearing each year as a heating source.

The heat-source conversion project is part of a five-year, $40 million investment funded by Chevrolet.

"As a large-scale operation delivering approximately 70 million plants a year, we're committed to activities like this that help us become a greener greenhouse," said Abe VanWingerden, co-CEO of Metrolina Greenhouses, in a press release. "When our biomass boilers are burning these wood chips, you can't even tell they're running."

Chevrolet will continue to fund additional projects in a carbon reduction effort and will release informational videos, called "Carbon Stories," over the next five years.

Instead of relying on natural gas, Metrolina Greenhouses uses waste wood from forest management and land clearing as an energy source for heat. GM

Metrolina Greenhouses is a large-scale operation delivering approximately 70 million plants a year GM