 |
| About this Web Site ManureNet is a national information resource and coordination centre for Manure /Nutrient Management and Bioenergy Issues.ManureNet was started by Dr. Bruce Bowman in April, 1998 as a pilot project, initially funded by the Hog Environmental Management Strategy (HEMS). At the time, Bruce had been involved in managing environmental programs for Agriculture & Agri-Food Canada (AAFC) in London, Ontario. By 2000, Bruce expanded the scope of ManureNet to start acquiring information on anaerobic digestion and renewable energy issues, in order to focus attention on the renewable energy issue in Canada, which had received minimal attention compared to its advanced state throughout Europe. In parallel with the ManureNet project, Bruce had also been developing an extensive archive of Agri-Environmental Programs that had been delivered by the Federal Government in Ontario, representing an investment approaching $100M over a 11-year period from 1986 to 1997.By the time that Bruce retired in August 2006, the ManureNet web site had 23,000 links on the site, including more than 6,500 links to external web sites. The Ag-Environmental Archive had over 200 digital reports from the various environmental programs, along with extensive program descriptions. As AAFC had little interest in maintaining either web site, both sites remained static for a year, at which time both were taken off-line in Sept. 2007.In May 2008, a new server was made available for the Archive site, and Bruce re-designed and brought the site on-line again. Since then, he has scanned and converted more than 80 reports from the PLUARG program, sponsored by the International Joint Commission, bringing the report total on the web site to more than 310, which represents a total investment approaching $120 M by the federal government in Ontario over the 25-yr period from 1972 - 1997. In Sept, 2008, Bruce started the process of re-designing and updating the information in ManureNet and began bringing it back on-line. Efforts are continuing to refresh and update information as it becomes available.
Bruce T. Bowman, Archivist
|