A Saskatchewan agriculture graduate will spend the next four years exploring the production of oilseeds for biodiesel in Norway.
Wendy Waalen, who was raised on a farm at Eyebrow, said Norway and Canada both have a growing interest in renewable energy.
“They’re looking for ways to try and protect their agricultural industry,” she said. Only five percent of Norway’s land is used for agriculture, said Waalen.
Its agricultural community is heavily subsidized, something the country is under pressure from the World Trade Organization to reduce.
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The biodiesel research offers opportunities for improving rural development, decreasing greenhouse gas emissions and making the world less dependent on fossil fuels, she said.
It will examine everything from farm production techniques to biodiesel’s use in motors.
Waalen said European countries like France and Germany are far ahead of Canada in exploring bioenergy. Norway, like Canada, is just wading in.
She will complete her PhD in agro-ecology while working for the Norwegian Institute for Agricultural and Environmental Research, an organization similar to Agriculture Canada.
Her work will focus on winter canola, which yields better in Europe than spring varieties do in Canada.
The crop also provides good winter ground cover, sees less nitrogen leaching and fewer erosion issues and uses fewer chemicals.
Waalen said varieties in northern Europe are not as winter hardy, something she hopes to improve by studying the plants. She also hopes to use her knowledge of farm production and her Canadian connections to work with researchers in Guelph and Saskatoon on the project.
A graduate of the University of Saskatchewan, Waalen received her masters degree in Norway. A stint with an international agricultural exchange program led to her interest in farming in different countries and marriage to a Norwegian native.
