A University of Guelph research team says turning farm waste into biofuels is now possible - and that it makes economic sense.
The researchers belive they've come up with a way to generate power from wet and green waste - including corn husks, tomato vines and manure.
Engineering professor Animesh Dutta says pressure cooking that waste yields compact, easily transportable material that will not degrade and which can be used in energy-producing plants.
The research shows that in a lab setting, biofuels can produce the same amount of energy as coal.
The next step is to take the process outside the lab.
Dutta says large pressure cookers located near farms could accept and cook waste for transport to energy plants.
The University of Guelph team has a number of industry partners and government ministries inerstest in the technology .
Dutta says it could take five to seven years, depending on the funding, to get to a full-scale operation.
