The Green Energy Park Now Open to the Public
• Glassblowing
• Blacksmithing
• Artwork for sale
• Walk-in classes available
Our glassblowing, blacksmithing, ceramics and metal foundry facilites are now open to the public.
Hours are 10am – 3pm Wednesday thru Friday, with tours, demonstratons and a gallery of finished pieces for purchase.
Public classes will resume in the Spring.
1/2 mile past the Huddle House in Dillsboro. Call 828-631-0271
A Family Event
The Youth
Arts Festival Returns
September 16
From 9 am to 3 pm, your family can enjoy:
• Demonstrations in glass, metal, ceramics, paint, printmaking, etc.
• Activities in weaving, hand-building with clay, wheel thrown clay
• Music performances by local groups
• Food available for purchase
The metal forges and the glass furnaces used by the artists use renewable landfill gas from a near-by closed landfill to power them. All the artists at the festival will enjoy helping children to create their own works of art.
The event is FREE and open to the public. No pets please. Service animals are welcome.
Gas Flare Igniter and Combustion Chamber
At night, when we’re not using the landfill gas, we “flare” it or burn it off so that the methane doesn’t enter our atmosphere. But the flare took a lightning hit which killed the ingiter system, and an original replacement was going to cost us $13,000. So instead we found a solar-powered igniter, and our master fabricator Kevin built a cool wheeled sled (above) that moves the igniter up so it can light the flare, then pulls it back down to reduce wear and tear. Total cost – under $500!
We’ve also never been happy with the flare shroud – the big metal tube where the flare is supposed to burn. It was too short, didn’t really contain or protect the flame, and allowed the wind to blow the flare out, requiring constant relights.
So I talked with our friend Chip down at Innovation Station, and he hooked us up with an old stainless steel beer keg that he couldn’t use. Once again, Kevin fired up the plasma torch and welder, and turned the keg into an insulated combustion chamber with a rain roof. Now our flare burns at a higher temperature, holds the flame within the chamber for a few seconds to ensure total destruction of any harmful chemicals, and never blows out.
Big thanks to Chip and Innovation for their fine donation, and kudos to Kevin for an amazing job.
Other Efforts
In addition to these big projects, our team members also:
• Built a $3,000 high speed belt sander for $500 and lots of donated parts.
• Presented a lecture on renewable energy in the glass industry for the international Glass Arts Society.
• Constructed a packaging area for the artists.
• Completely rebuilt our oldest blacksmith forge, and upgraded it to a high-efficiency ribbon burner (we even got the burner donated by the manufacturer, since we have the only forges in the world to run on landfill gas).
