WOOSTER -- A world leader in bioenergy production will welcome visitors to its laboratory on Tuesday at Ohio State University's Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center.

Schmack BioEnergy, producers of biogas and other bioenergy, will hold an open house at the OARDC. An estimated 150 guests have been invited to the invitation-only ceremony, which is scheduled for 10 a.m.-noon and include OARDC faculty and its director, Steven Slack.

The public is invited to attend beginning at noon; there will be tours and demonstrations.

Schmack BioEnergy is a German-based industrial research business with 300 biogas plants either completed or under construction. The closest production plant is in Akron, where human waste is turned into useful energy.

What sets Schmack apart, Clemens Halene, vice president of engineering, said, is the company takes research from the lab and applies it to the marketplace.

"This is not an experiment," Clemens said. "The technology has developed. Our job is to Americanize it and apply it and to adjust it for the U.S. market."

Schmack's Wooster location is working to develop a smaller version plant at the OARDC capable of turning waste material -- especially animal waste -- into usable gas for automobiles.

The company moved to the OARDC about a year ago, after learning of existent infrastructure through the Wayne Economic Development Council, and officials at OARDC.

Clemens said he hopes to provide the OARDC the option of using gas produced by his company within a year. The company stations six full-time employees at the Wooster location, including chemical and electrical engineers, and has a goal of creating more than 100,000 Ohio jobs, with capital investment of more than $10 billion.

Clemens said the OARDC is a good location for his research, and to build a small plant, because of the abundance of animal agriculture and animal waste.

He said the company would like to attract waste from area businesses. The businesses would pay Schmack to take their waste, he said, but at a lesser fee than they currently pay for waste services.

And the waste will be turned into something that benefits the energy supply, economy and environment, Clemens said. Additionally, he said Schmack is researching ways it can use its byproducts as fertilizer, and produce and dispense clean water -- a liability many businesses currently face.

"We take care of waste, we produce energy and we can make clean water," Clemens said.

Located at one of the nation's top agriculture research centers, the company also presents educational opportunities to students studying bioenergy, or any of the basic sciences.

There is "tremendous teaching and learning experience for children," Clemens said, adding it's been a "great venture from both sides (Wooster and Schmack)."

Reporter Chris Kick can be reached at 330-287-1635 or e-mail ckick@the-daily-record.com.