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Waste issues
Agricultural production creates mountains of low-value waste residues
on a daily basis. This includes straws, husks, nut shells, fruit pits,
seeds, sugar cane bagasse and manure to name just a few. While many of
these wastes are best handled through composting and/or farming practices,
several are difficult to manage because of their volume, toxicity and
resistance to biodegrading or potential health hazards to humans.
Some agricultural crops, (notably rice and flax) produce straw which typically
takes years to biodegrade and are of little or no value as livestock feed
or as a commercial commodity. "Open air" burning of this straw
following grain harvest is a common practice worldwide, where millions
of tons of straw is burned annually. Smoke generated by this practice
adds significantly to local pollution, poor air quality, "greenhouse"
gases and removal of soil nutrients.
Transition Crops
As we move to a global economy in the agricultural industry, certain regions
are losing the markets for their traditional crops, such as sugar cane
or tobacco. In many cases, farmers are not able to replace these crops
with viable alternative crops. With the Agri-THERM mobile pyrolysis
plant it will be practical to grow these crops specifically for the byproducts
produced. This allows the farmers to continue growing the same crop with
their existing expertise and capital equipment.
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