Tony Guinta has known about New Hampshire's emerging green economy for some time and hopes his new company will be one of its many players for years to come.

Guinta, the chief executive officer of American Energy Independence Company, LLC, is scheduled to open its new fuel processing plant inside the former Suncook tannery in downtown Pittsfield on Dec. 1. He is one of 10 employees and sees unlimited potential in turning restaurant waste vegetable oil into fuel that can be used to heat homes and power machinery.

Guinta said the company will take waste vegetable oil from more than 150 restaurants, filter it and blend it to create a new fuel. The company also will sell vegetable oil multi-fuel boilers. "We turn waste streams into profit streams," Guinta said.

AMENICO is one of many companies in New Hampshire that are either producing environmentally-friendly and energy efficient products or that have incorporated them to reduce operating costs.

Ross Gittell, a University of New Hampshire economics professor at the Whittemore School of Business and Economics, said the state could see as many as 25,000 new renewable energy jobs in 10 years if President-elect Barack Obama's plan to invest $150 billion in green energy is approved by Congress.

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