Biofuel Produced from Pressure Cooked Wet Farm Waste

Researchers at the University of Guelph in Ontario, Canada have developed a procedure to produce biofuel from farm waste that is typically difficult to use. Led by engineering professor Animesh Dutta from the University of Guelph, the researchers have found a solution to this: pressure cooking.

Cooking farm waste yields compact, easily transportable material that will not degrade and can be used in energy recovery plants. The new biofuel product  made by the researchers is claimed to contain less alkali and alkaline earth metals, allowing them to be used at power plants.

"What this means is that we have a resource in farm waste that is readily available, can produce energy at a similar level to burning coal, and does not require any significant start-up costs," Dutta said.

"We are taking what is now a net-negative resource in farm waste, which farmers have to pay to remove, and providing an opportunity for them to make money and help the environment. It's a closed-loop cycle, meaning we don't have to worry about external costs," continued the professor.