In an early venture into alternative fuel research at the University of Saskatchewan (USask), Prof. R.D. MacLaurin experimented with straw gas as a means of powering a motor vehicle. The Department of Chemistry professor extracted methane gas from straw—an abundant resource after harvest time in Saskatchewan—and modified a McLaughlin Motor Car to use it as fuel.
MacLaurin successfully tested his prototype car on a drive to downtown Saskatoon in 1918, but straw proved to be an inefficient source of energy. Despite the massive gas bag mounted above the car, the vehicle could travel only a short distance on a tank.
The last straw for this research came the following year when MacLaurin was dismissed from USask over a funding dispute with the university president. A replica of the straw gas car is displayed at the Western Development Museum in Saskatoon.