Glass artist Haydin Wilson, right, tests the temperature of the newly installed glass furnace at the Green Energy Park while park director Timm Muth assists. Photo courtesy of the Jackson County Green Energy Park.
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From the Friends of the Green Energy Park, shared Aug. 21:
Glass artist Haydin Wilson, right, tests the temperature of the newly installed glass furnace at the Green Energy Park while park director Timm Muth assists. Photo courtesy of the Jackson County Green Energy Park.
SYLVA — Timm Muth, director of Jackson County’s Green Energy Park, announced today the installation and first-time firing of a second donated, high-efficiency glass furnace. Working closely with local glass artists Clay Hufford and Hayden Wilson, Muth turned the knob which controlled the landfill gas as Wilson lit the match to fire the refurbished glass furnace for the first time at Jackson County’s Green Energy Park.
“It was a way for me to give something back to Timm and the GEP. I’ve been working at this for a while and the GEP helped me to get a start in glass-blowing,” said furnace donor Clay Hufford. The refurbished glass furnace retails new for $5,000 and uses less land fill gas, heats to glass-blowing temperatures of 2,000 degrees Fahrenheit more quickly and maintains the heat more evenly than the previous glass furnace.
“This furnace holds more molten glass, heats quicker, and uses less gas than many newer models,” said Muth. “Because of the GEPs better equipment, its ease of use, and our very nominal shop fees, more local artists are willing to come to the GEP and blow their glass to sell it in local shops and galleries.”
Muth said “this is one small part of the Green Energy Park’s expansion and upgrade. We’re on the verge of some major things happening and we need to be ready.”
The Jackson County Green Energy Park is an award-winning, community-scale landfill gas project located in Dillsboro, N.C., that uses landfill gas and other renewable energy resources to provide fuel for blacksmith forges and foundry, glassblowing studios, and greenhouses. For more information, visit www.jcgep.org.
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