A PIONEERING company is aiming to lead the world in turning waste into energy - with the potential to create new jobs and boost the North Yorkshire economy.

Pickering-based Bioflame Ltd, which manufactures eco-friendly waste burners and gasifiers, could play a key part helping the county's struggling farming industry diversify, said entrepreneur Victor Buchanan, who set up the enterprise with top businessman and Ryedale resident Iain Dale.

Production has started at the company, and several orders for waste burners have already been received from Central America.

"The current orders are from coffee mills in Costa Rica keen to stop using rain-forest wood as a fuel," said Mr Buchanan.

The firm is set to launch a UK marketing campaign for the burners in August, manufacturing power generator equipment in December and creating up to 50 local jobs.

Farmers will be able to diversify their businesses by growing fuel and then using the generator equipment to feed power into the National Grid.

The burners can use a wide range of waste, including straw, chicken litter, coppiced willow crops, and husks from coffee and rice crops.

"Every megawatt of power we produce will save 7,910 tonnes of CO2 gases being released into the atmosphere every year," said Mr Buchanan.

The company has other technology projects in the pipeline, he added.

With the help of regional development agency Yorkshire Forward, he and Mr Dale intend to construct the region's first on-farm power generation plant using willow coppice and poultry litter as a fuel.

The commercial director of the company, Andrew Springett, said: "Bioflame's future is very bright. We have a long queue of visitors wanting to see our equipment."

Updated: 15:12 Wednesday, June 11, 2003