SANFORD — Central Carolina Community College has been awarded the 2010 North Carolina Mobile Clean Air Renewable Energy (Mobile CARE) Award, Policy/Organization category, by the N.C. Department of Transportation.

Gene Conti, secretary of the NCDOT, presented the award at the May 26 Mobilizing NC: Where Air Quality, Energy & Transportation Meet conference at North Carolina State University. Receiving the award were Dr. Karen Allen, the college’s Chatham County provost; Andrew McMahan, biofuels coordinator; and Robert Armantrout, biofuels instructor. 

“Sustainability is a core value at CCCC and it is reflected through our programming and outreach,” Allen said. “I'm very appreciative of this recognition, and very proud of the work our faculty have done to deliver excellent green workforce training programs.”

The award was given in recognition of the college’s outstanding achievements in supporting alternative fuels and advanced transportation technologies, according to Anne Tazewell, Transportation Program manager for the North Carolina Solar Center at N.C. State University’s College of Engineering. 

Central Carolina C.C., which is nicknamed “Green Central,” has had a focus on sustainable technologies for years. It was the first — and still is the only — community college in North Carolina to offer an Associate in Applied Science in Alternative Energy Technology: Biofuels. 

In fall 2010, it will offer a new AAS degree in Sustainable Technologies. It has the only North American Board of Certified Energy Practitioners (NABCEP)-approved solar PV panel installation course at a N.C. community college. In 2002, it became the first community college in the nation to offer an Associate of Applied Science in Sustainable Agriculture. 

The college also offers a variety of sustainable courses outside its degree programs. The sustainable programs take place primarily at the college’s Chatham County Campus, in Pittsboro.

“The award selection committee was impressed by CCCC’s biofuels curriculum as well as programs in sustainable farming and natural chef training,” said Tazewell. 

She added that CCCC “has implemented a diverse set of strategies and secured wide ranging support for the important work of training a skilled workforce for North Carolina in the field of alternative fuels and other sustainable practices.”

The Mobile CARE awards honor outstanding individual and organizational achievements in reducing transportation-related emissions. The awards are sponsored by the NCDOT and the event organized and hosted by the N.C. Solar Center. The award selection committee consisted of representatives from the state Energy Office, Department of Environment and Natural Resources Division of Air Quality, and the Department of Transportation.

For more information on Central Carolina C.C.’s sustainable programs, visit the college’s web site at www.cccc.edu/green. For more about the N.C. Solar Center, go to www.ncsc.ncsu.edu.