Food and Farming Canada » ethanol

Healthy Ontario farms will help us as supplies decline

Lilian — Thu, 30 Dec 2010 14:10:02 +0000

The crystal ball says we live in the best place in the world. Personally, I’ve long been convinced of it, having lived in this area for most of my life, but this is the opinion of a bio-economy expert who spoke at the Vineland Research and Innovation Centre recently.

His perspective was a bit different from mine, [...]

Farmers fuel Formula One

Lilian — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 17:28:34 +0000

There’s power in biofuel! The Ferrari team finished one-two at the opening Formula One Grand Prix of the season in Bahrain over the weekend.

Sure, that’s sports news, but what also makes this feed, fuel and farm news is that these race cars were powered by an experimental biofuel made from Eastern Ontario wheat straw.

Shell and [...]

Fuel from wheat straw at the pumps in Ottawa

Lilian — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 12:50:24 +0000

A gas station in Ottawa is the first in the world to sell fuel made with wheat straw, says a major petroleum company.

Shell announced that this blended fuel includes 10% biofuel made from wheat stalks – known as cellulosic ethanol.

Ethanol and biofuels have been heavily promoted recently as a renewable alternative to petroleum that could [...]

The right to farm and feed the world

Lilian — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 11:20:21 +0000

The world’s demand for food and food-based products is set to double – if not triple – by 2050 and farmers must speak up for their right to meet that demand using conventional farming methods combined with new technologies.

If they don’t, a US researcher told delegates at the Beef Industry Convention in London ON recently, we [...]

Fed dollars for ethanol research

Lilian — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 15:21:32 +0000

One of the criticisms often lobbed at the ethanol industry is that using corn for fuel means there is less available for food. But a new research investment by the government of Canada aims to change that.Agriculture and AGri-Food Canada announced almost $20 million of funding for the Cellulosic Biofuels Network (CBN) to conduct research into [...]

Coffee for cars?

Lilian — Mon, 29 Dec 2008 04:07:53 +0000

We may soon no longer be the only big consumers of coffee.

Researchers in Nevada have found that used coffee grounds can be turned into a source of cheap, environmentally friendly fuel for cars and trucks.

Although the price of gas has plummetted recently – averaging around $0.65/litre here in Waterloo Region during this last week of December [...]

Obama + agriculture + Canada = ?

Lilian — Sun, 09 Nov 2008 23:37:19 +0000

Now that America has it’s new President-elect in Senator Barack Obama, what does that mean for farmers? That’s a big question not only for farmers on either side of the Canada – US border, but also around the world.

Although I did follow the US election fairly regularly, I didn’t pay as much attention to the [...]

Do we care if it’s Canadian meat?

Lilian — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 02:57:14 +0000

Do we care if our meat is made in Canada?

It soon won’t matter, says a report by a Guelph-based agricultural think tank, because there may not be any.A study by the George Morris Centre concludes that the current surge in the renewable fuels industry is driving livestock farmers – meat producers – out of business in [...]

Farmers not to blame

Lilian — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 18:51:08 +0000

The following article was printed in the Waterloo Region Record on September 30 2008.

Farmers aren’t to blame for rising food prices By Lilian Schaer

The global food crisis is starting to hit home. Even here in Ontario where a strong farming sector produces an abundance of top quality food and exports much of it to other countries, higher [...]

It was like looking in a mirror

Lilian — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 06:22:09 +0000

It was an all-too-familiar tune and one that most in the international audience could strongly relate to.

The President of the Chamber of Agriculture and Forestry for Styria (one of Austria’s nine provinces), Gerhard Wlodkowski, talked to us about his organization’s activities last night – and chief among them was raising public awareness about how food [...]