PLNT6250 - Colloquium in Plant Agriculture - Fall 2006 "Bioproducts in the Context of Ontario's Agricultural and Manufacturing Industries"

PLNT*6250 is offered a topic specific colloquium offered on a per semester basis dependent on instructor and student interests.

 

Instructor

L. Erickson (erickson@uoguelph.ca)

Overview

There is an opportunity for agriculture to acquire a new relevance to the Ontario economy as a source of renewable biomass for the production of chemicals, materials, and fuels. Ontario's agricultural sector is knowledgeable and experienced in the production of a multitude of plant materials, and our manufacturing sector has a wide range of input needs, many of which are currently derived from petroleum or natural gas, but which could be derived from biomass. The challenge is to determine what crop-based materials best fit with our industrial needs in the future, and how to develop the complementary agronomic and processing components required to meet those needs. It is clear that this task will require an integrated, interdisciplinary, approach, which will include biologists, engineers, and economists, as well as collaborators from the agricultural and manufacturing sectors. Students in this course will investigate some of the opportunities and challenges faced by plant agriculture in the emerging bioeconomy.

Final presentations

Slideshows

Andrew Burt	Is Corn Stover a Waste?
Liz Brauer	Switchgrass: An Ontario Perspective
Rachell Campbell	Biocomposites in Automotive Manufacturing
Ben Chapman	Is Bioproduct a Good Name?
Mahsa Golbabaie	Applications of Biocomposites in Building Industry
Scott Liddycoat	Obstacles to a plant-based pharmaceutical industry in Canada
Ivan Malchev	Plant-Oil-Based Lubricants
Eric Shaw	Using Canola - Derived Biodiesel as a Competitive Alternative to Petroleum