A new portable technology unveiled yesterday converts farming waste into bioproducts and renewable energy in the form of fuels, pharmaceuticals and even food additives.<\/p>\n
Through a chemical process called pyrolysis, materials such as raw sugar cane, tobacco, rice straw and coffee husks are processed by a machine, decomposed and turned into bio-oil.<\/b><\/p>\n
“Agriculture today needs all the help it can get,” said Elgin-Middlesex-London MP Joe Preston at the University of Western Ontario<\/a> unveiling.<\/p>\n “We’ve got challenges in agriculture right now,” said Ontario Labour Minister Steve Peters, the MPP for the same riding. “Why not use tobacco as feedstock for bio-oils?”<\/p>\n The first prototype of the Fast Pyrolysis Machine<\/b>, developed by professors Franco Berruti, Cedric Briens and engineering students, can further process liquid products into fuels and other products, including flavour for barbecue sauces and browning agents for meat.<\/p>\n The solid residues can be used for fertilizer.<\/p>\n