With demand for oil and the price of gasoline reaching historic proportions, the timing for “Pittsylvania crude” couldn’t be better.

Pittsylvania crude? What in the world? There aren’t any oil wells in Southside Virginia.

No, there aren’t, but there’s plenty of farmland - land that can produce switch grass and corn and other crops that can be grown for refining into bio-crude oil.

As Media General News Service reported recently, the nation’s first switch grass bio-crude refinery in Gretna could put that small community and Pittsylvania County on the national energy map this year. It could also generate a tremendous economic boost for the Gretna area - an area that one day could be referred to as Greater Gretna.

The bio-fuel refinery is the brainchild of Gretna businessman and entrepreneur Ken Moss. As far as he knows, his project and company - known as Piedmont Bioproducts LLC - would be the first refinery to produce crude oil from switch grass and/or wood chips.

 Moss and his firm received a $100,000 check last week from the Center for Innovative Technology. The money will allow Moss to complete construction of the refinery’s demonstration model and pilot plant, which are expected to be operating in July.

Peter Jobse, chief executive officer for CIT, referred to the money as an investment “because we want to be a partner with Ken in the development of this company. We recognize Ken ... and his technologies as a significant opportunity to create a new technology in the Southside area.”

Aside from the potential importance of reducing America’s dependence on foreign oil, the state of Virginia also sees the economic benefits of the project.

“This initiative is an example of how important it is to foster innovation and drive economic development opportunities throughout the commonwealth,” said Aneesh Chopra, the state’s secretary of technology.

Jobse also pointed out that the timing for the refinery project could not be better. With the current world market for oil, he said, now is the perfect time to introduce alternative fuel sources.

Bio-crude oil is also more friendly to the environment and the effects of global warming because it does not produce the carbon dioxide that fossil fuels produce when burned.

Moss will also use a co-op structure that involves local farmers and the Gretna community. That’s a feature that makes his enterprise attractive to other investors. Moss said profits from the venture will flow throughout the region. By participating in the co-op, farmers will increase their own profits by selling their switch grass or other grasses to Piedmont Bioproducts.

The refinery itself is expected to eventually employ as many as 45 people, which would also be an economic boost to the area.

Ken Moss’ Pittsylvania crude refinery is one of those win-win projects that entrepreneurs dream about for years.

It will not only represent a small answer to the growing world demand for crude oil, but it will provide jobs and a significant boost to the economy of Pittsylvania County.

Many are wishing him well in this significant venture.

Lynchburg News & Advance