We Could Power and Heat all of Western Canada's homes on Straw.

[Zephyr]

Sorry, but could we then not make syngas from coal?

Yes, but you're back to using fossil fuels, and it's very dirty and bad for the environment... Plus you're introducing new CO2 not reusing it, and it's not a renewable fuel source.

[AlbertaFarmer5]

At a cost of $0.0453/kwh, you could pay the producer $80/acre for the straw to recover nutrients...

One of the companies we deal with builds biogas reactors. They convert wood (we want one that works on straw) to syngas, produce heat as a byproduct, and the biogas runs an internal combustion engine similar to one run on Nat. gas.


These reactors can easily be used to produce fuel for grain dryers also.

Negating the carbon tax, and reliance on fossil fuels...

In our area there's still stubble burning to get rid of trash so you can seed... That's all wasted energy.

Yes, but the nutrients we buy with the $80 per acre are not sustainable or renewable. They either come from a hole in the ground, or come from natural gas. And are not as stable in the soil. Not arguing the economics, but selling it as a sustainable alternative is going to be tough.

[Zephyr]

Yes, but the nutrients we buy with the $80 per acre are not sustainable or renewable. They either come from a hole in the ground, or come from natural gas. And are not as stable in the soil. Not arguing the economics, but selling it as a sustainable alternative is going to be tough.

Nitrogen is fully renwwable.

If we look at nutrient recovery from cities we would be a lot closer also on P.

The point is 99% of flax straw gets burnt. Lots of cereal straw gets burnt.

We get nothing out of that its a completely wasted resource.


Also theres a few studies now showing that straw removal isnt taking very much for nutrients or OM, at least not compared to what we thought...

Roots chaff and stubble is all there still.

[WiltonRanch]

Syngas is not a new idea. Seen articles about trucks and tractors running on wood years ago. FWIW the equipment needed to do this isn’t super complex but to do a super efficient job probably is. A stationary unit running an engine producing electricity would be interesting to say the least.

[MBgrower]

You might as well burn it if your not going to get a credit to sequester it.

[WiltonRanch]

Done a bit more reading on this and wondered how feasible it would be to completely power a grain drying system on straw gas? Power a generator to run electric motors and run the burner.

[bucket]

Sorry, but could we then not make syngas from coal?

Or refinery coke.....????
I thought there was talk of using it?

[FarmJunkie]

Great ideas boys but like anything that gets started it’s the initial setup that’s the killer. Need deep pockets or government backing to keeping it rolling through the first rough spot. That’s usually about the time the money runs out or government abandons u.

[jazz]

You need to understand the electrical grid in context of these ideas. To be a consistant power source it has to be created from a few central locations where straw would have to be hauled to. Once you factor the transport cost in, it becomes uneconomical.

So the alternative is a bunch of producers with their own systems feeding the grid. Can you imagine trying to balance the grid with hundreds of guys burning bales whenever they feel like it?

You are taking a reliable grid backed with reliable fuel in a few locations, coal, nat gas, hydro and risking it with intermittent loads. Maybe that works in California but not here.

The best use for a waste fuel like that is to use it locally to create a higher value product. Some guy by NB was using flax straw to heat his greenhouse.

[Zephyr]

You need to understand the electrical grid in context of these ideas. To be a consistant power source it has to be created from a few central locations where straw would have to be hauled to. Once you factor the transport cost in, it becomes uneconomical.

So the alternative is a bunch of producers with their own systems feeding the grid. Can you imagine trying to balance the grid with hundreds of guys burning bales whenever they feel like it?

You are taking a reliable grid backed with reliable fuel in a few locations, coal, nat gas, hydro and risking it with intermittent loads. Maybe that works in California but not here.

The best use for a waste fuel like that is to use it locally to create a higher value product. Some guy by NB was using flax straw to heat his greenhouse.

Biomass is reliable, 24/7/365 generation.


You do need to understand power grids... The way they are being designed today, and the way changes are designed into them is to allow for distributed loads and distributed access.

Just like CoGen stations, the utility regulates how much energy is fed into the grid, and these fully automated systems burn / produce only as much energy as demand requires.