would be interesting nbut i was unaware that people used canning machines for much of anything :p
on my server i think only 1 person used it, and the only think it was used for was the Fueled Jetpack which he was very dissappointed with.
The Canningmachine has very special abilities (Superfuel for example), here are some recipes:
Food + X * Cans = X * Foodcans (X is the amount of Foodpoints it gives)
= Coalfuel
= Biofuel
Now the secret ones for Superfuel:
Yes, Modders could need an API for that, but it is not as simple as you are describing.
yeah but i never even cared to go with fuel and canning. food is stackable now and fuel to me was irrelavent since i went from 32 solar+18windmills to nuclear reactors, now i just use nuclear reactors for power. i might use other means soo though but nuclear reactors pumping out 500eu/t is so much easier on my server then like 50 generators using superfuel, it's also alot easier to manage, i might consider making a bio-fuel processing plant in the future for generator or maybe even getting forrestry so i can use saplings for biofuel and charcoal for coal cell (if able) and then just mass produce Superfuel and auto-feed it in, but that'd only be if i ran out of uranium.
yeah but i never even cared to go with fuel and canning. food is stackable now and fuel to me was irrelavent since i went from 32 solar+18windmills to nuclear reactors, now i just use nuclear reactors for power. i might use other means soo though but nuclear reactors pumping out 500eu/t is so much easier on my server then like 50 generators using superfuel, it's also alot easier to manage, i might consider making a bio-fuel processing plant in the future for generator or maybe even getting forrestry so i can use saplings for biofuel and charcoal for coal cell (if able) and then just mass produce Superfuel and auto-feed it in, but that'd only be if i ran out of uranium.
You cant use Charcoal for Coalcells, you have to use compressed wet Coaldust. 
Biofuel is MUCH less powerfull than Coalfuel and it's better to burn Cacti and Sugarcanes directly in the Generator instead of turning it into Biofuel.
The Forestrybiofuel and the corresponding Biofuelgenerator are efficient enough to use them in the game.
yeah i wasn't sure if you could use charcoal for coal cells since they re-added Charcoal Dust.
and i know that sadly bio-fuel is significant'y less powerful. i was debating flat out burning cactus but it's only worth 50 EU per. but atleast not that the world height is 256 i could make a much faster and more effective cactus Tower.
