Registration is officially open for the 2014 Collective Biodiesel Conference, Aug. 14-17 in Pittsboro, N.C. This year’s event is being hosted by Piedmont Biofuels. The theme of the event is “Think Differently.”

Several speakers, which are hand-picked by the biodiesel community presenting on a wide range of topics involving biodiesel production, promotion and use, are already scheduled to present. To view the speaking schedule thus far, click here. 

Piedmont Biofuels is known for its community-based approach to biodiesel production and distribution, as well as its process technology innovations such as the cooperative’s trailblazing work in enzymatic production. Piedmont Biofuels’ 14-acre industrial park in Pittsboro, N.C., features multifeedstock biodiesel processing in addition to hydroponics, aquaponics, biochar production and sustainable agriculture. Co-hosting the event will be Central Carolina Community College, where many of the breakout sessions will be held.

“With the Collective Biodiesel Conference being in Pittsboro, N.C., this year, it will be like going to ‘Biodiesel Mecca,’” said Graydon Blair with the CBC Board and owner of Utah Biodiesel Supply.

“We are delighted to have been chosen as the 2014 host site,” said Lyle Estill, Piedmont founder and president. “For grassroots biodiesel, winning the bid for this conference is like winning a bid for the Olympics.”

The 2013 CBC was held in Breckinridge, Colo., hosted by Summit Greasecycling. In 2012, Temecula, Calif.-based Promethean Biofuels hosted the event.