A round baler releases a fresh wheat bale when it is harvested.
Saskatchewan’s lumber and agriculture industries produce approximately 24 million tonnes of biomass residue. USask researchers hope to convert this into green energy.
Dr. Ajay Dailai stated that some of this biomass is used for animal feed or bedding. But a lot of it is left in fields or taken to landfills where it rots, releases methane and has a negative effect on the climate.
His team hopes to decarbonize the heating, power, and other sectors by replacing nonrenewable natural gases with biomethane. Also known as renewable natural gas, this would be made from leftovers from the agriculture and lumber industries.
One advantage is that natural gas pipelines are already running across the country, which makes it easier to distribute this green power. The project will test both thermochemical and biochemical methods of producing renewable natural gas. This will allow us to determine which method works best and is the most economically feasible.
