The Green Energy Park’s Blacksmith Village has received national recognition for having the first and only forges in the U.S. fired using a renewable energy source – methane gas from a former landfill.
he Park has won several statewide and national awards,
including the 2006 Project of the Year award from the Environmental Protection Agency, the 2008 Service Learning Partnership Award from Western Carolina University, and the Economic Development Leadership Award from the NC State Energy Office. We anticipate that the growing reputation of the GEP will help promote the resident artists and support their economic development, while contributing to the region-wide revival of heritage arts.
The GEP’s methane-powered forges and resident Master Blacksmith William Rogers were recently featured in The Anvil’s Ring, the official quarterly for the Artist Blacksmith’s Association of North America (ABANA). The Blacksmith Village was also the extended cover story for the Saturday, April 14, 2007 copy of the Asheville Citizen-Times. The Green Energy Park itself was highlighted in a February 12, 2007 article in USA Today, and has been featured in numerous local newspapers since the project’s inception in 2005. The GEP has also been featured in a segment of the Farmer’s Almanac Channel, a syndicated PBS show.
ARTICLES
Most recent are listed first
Blacksmith classes forge a green path January 13, 2008. Asheville Citizen Times
Forging Ahead December 19, 2007. Smoky Mountain News
Landing jobs should be part of the mixApril 11, 200.7 Smoky Mountain News
Methane-fueled blacksmithing forge opens in Dillsboro January 11, 2007. Asheville Citizen-Times
Jackson County
he Park has won several statewide and national awards,
including the 2006 Project of the Year award from the Environmental Protection Agency, the 2008 Service Learning Partnership Award from Western Carolina University, and the Economic Development Leadership Award from the NC State Energy Office. We anticipate that the growing reputation of the GEP will help promote the resident artists and support their economic development, while contributing to the region-wide revival of heritage arts.