The Iowa Soybean Association (ISA) has announced that a Renewable Fuels Testing Laboratory is one step closer to reality thanks to the $1 million the U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee has earmarked for the project.
The Renewable Fuels Testing Laboratory will be built on the Iowa Central Community College (ICCC) campus at Fort Dodge, IA. “ISA has fully supported the Renewable Fuels Testing Lab and the ICCC biotechnology and biofuels program,” commented Ray Gaesser, ISA president and a soybean farmer near Corning, IA. “It has been a long-term priority for us.”
The laboratory will anchor the ICCC biofuels technology program, nationally recognized for providing highly skilled workers in the biodiesel and ethanol industries. Don Heck, program coordinator of the ICCC biotechnology and biofuels technology program, said the lab will be a fully independent, all-fuel testing facility. “Currently, it takes a one- to two-week turnaround at other fuel-testing labs. Our goal is to provide fuel test results in one to two days, and at a reduced cost.”
The ICCC lab is now testing fuels for the Decker study, which is a partnership of Decker Truck Line, Inc., ISA, the National Biodiesel Board, USDA and ICCC. Called “Two Million Mile Haul,” the study is examining the benefits of a 20% soy biodiesel blend (B20) being used by an over-the-road trucking company.
U.S. Sen. Tom Harkin (D-IA) , a senior member of the U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee that approved the $1 million for the fuel testing lab, said it “will provide comprehensive fuel quality testing for the rapidly expanding renewable fuels industry.”
For more information about ISA, go to www.iasoybeans.com
