Lakeland College Receives $1.4 Million in Funding

February 22, 2012

Vegreville-Wainwright MP Leon Benoit has announced $900,000 in federal funding will be given to Lakeland College to acquire two mobile pyrolysis units to test, evaluate, and demonstrate biochar products for the agricultural and environmental marketplace. Additional support from Alberta Innovates Technology Futures of $450,000 will also go to the project.  Benoit says the investment will provide the tools needed to test, develop, and commercialize innovative biochar technologies that lead to new products and applications for the global market. Biochar is the carbon-rich residue produced by pyrolysis, a process of burning organic matter such as agricultural and forestry waste in a low oxygen environment. The substance can be used to improve soil texture and crop productivity, as well as accelerate re-vegetation of uncultivable lands. Preliminary studies also indicate biochar has the potential to clean up wastewater in the petroleum sector.