New provincial money for biofuels research will help the local research park commercialize the emerging technology.
The Ontario government announced it will pour another $7.5 million into research for biofuels that can be made from agricultural waste such as corn husks and manure instead of food crops.
With $5 million of that funding going towards a new biofuels institute at the University of Western Ontario in London, that will have an impact on research being conducted at Sarnia's UWO research park, says its executive director.
"It's a great source of research innovation that we'll be looking to advance here in Sarnia," said Joel Adams.
The Modeland Road research park has already begun a pair of projects focusing on the technology, which will tie into the London studies, Adams said.
The pilot projects will test various fuel sources for use as a biofuel. Adams said the fuel sources will be food by-products that are currently finding their way to landfills.
That means biofuels won't have to come from actual food stocks, he said.
"This is fantastic news," he said. "This technology is attracting a lot of publicity internationally."
The goal of the research park is to take the research and develop it for commercial use.
"We would be the major vehicle to commercialize the research," Adams said of the local park.
"There is no better place in Canada to commercialize this work."
With concerns mounting that biofuels are taking food out of people's mouths and pushing prices higher, the government is looking for alternatives.
As part of the provincial funding announcement, $2.5 million will go toward a demonstration project on a farm outside of London that is turning manure and waste water into biogas, producing enough to power about 800 homes.
The first generation of biofuels included products like ethanol, which comes from the sugar in corn kernels. Developing fuels from waste, such as corn husks, is trickier, Adams said.
Ontario produces close to 50 million tons of biomass a year, which has the potential to produce enough energy to power seven million homes.
Since 2003, the Ontario government has invested more than $600 million in research devoted to green technologies and initiatives.
