September 22, 2009,
Vancouver, BC – The B.C. Innovation Council (BCIC) recently announced the
recipients of the BCIC Commercialization of Agricultural Technology (CAT)
Competition.
September 22, 2009,
Vancouver, BC – The B.C. Innovation Council (BCIC) recently announced the
recipients of the BCIC Commercialization of Agricultural Technology (CAT)
Competition.
The recipients were
awarded $10,000 each to put towards developing business plans for the next
round of competition. Out of 60 applicants to this competition, 22 companies
were successful in moving forward to the proof of concept stage.
The winning companies are
involved in a diverse range of advanced science and technology innovations in
the agriculture, food and bioproducts sectors. Top applicants will be required
to make a presentation to a panel of expert judges for a chance to win a
portion of the $600,000 proof of concept money.
Several companies involved
in manure management have advanced to the next round of the competition. These
include:
Bakerview EcoDairy Ltd.’s
objective is to create cost-effective sustainable anaerobic digester systems
for conversion of dairy manure to by-products such as biogas, heat, bedding,
and fertilizer. The anaerobic digester will be located on the Bakerview
EcoDairy in Abbotsford, B.C., and will showcase innovative and sustainable
farming practices to the public.
Enviro-Quest Technologies
Inc. proposes to develop methods for mixing crude glycerol, a by-product of
biodiesel, into the anaerobic digestion process to increase methane yields
based on waste streams that are available in B.C. Laboratory and pilot plant
studies will evaluate the use of waste glycerol as co-substrate in anaerobic
digestion of manure/sewage in particular.
Sungard Building Products
has developed an innovative device and process that permits the densification,
compaction, reduction, dewatering and reuse of a wide range of agricultural
wastes, including animal manures, straws, grasses, chaffs and stover into
usable products suitable as clean burning fuels for existing and new
combustion, heating and energy systems.
