The Midwest Aviation Sustainable Biofuels Initiative (MASBI) has announced its findings and recommendations to develop a sustainable aviation biofuels industry in the Midwest. It’s the result of a yearlong study by researchers representing 40-plus organizations across the aviation biofuels supply chain. The report is titled, “Fueling a Sustainable Future for Aviation 2013.” “The MASBI report …Continue reading “Iowa State contributes to report on Midwest path to aviation biofuels”
For the third consecutive year, Anson Marston Distinguished Professor in Engineering Robert Brown was ranked in the Top 100 People in Bioenergy by Biofuels Digest. This year, he rose to #47, after his rankings at #59 and #61, in 2012 and 2011, respectively. The list is voted on by Biofuels Digest readers and the newsletter’s editorial board. …Continue reading “Biofuels Digest honors Brown twice in 2012”
Iowa’s three Regents universities are making faculty hires, launching studies, partnering with community colleges and building industry partnerships – all in a $22 million effort to boost the state’s research capacity in renewable energy and energy utilization. The benefits to Iowa could be many: research grants, new technologies, startup companies, educational opportunities and workforce improvements …Continue reading “Iowa EPSCoR builds state’s research capacity in renewable energy and energy use”
Situated near the northern border of a country with a long history of violence, political instability, and disease is the Bilingual Christian University of Congo (UCBC), a school offering promise and hope to a community that has endured years of loss and strife. Launched in 2007, the university is part of the Congo Initiative, which …Continue reading “Engineering in Africa: Iowa State professor makes a global impact”
Regardless of race, sexual orientation, origin or political affiliation, there is one thing students and faculty at Iowa State can agree on: The state of Iowa has corn — and lots of it. In addition to Iowa being known as the Hawkeye State, after the Sauk Indian Black Hawk, the state of Iowa is also …Continue reading “Ethanol debate asks: Is corn food or fuel?”
A year into a new role as an assistant professor of industrial and manufacturing systems engineering, Guiping Hu enjoys the added opportunities to help students pursue their own studies, not to mention exploring an unexpected realm of interdisciplinary collaboration. Hu, who was promoted from lecturer in January 2010, says her previous experiences teaching undergraduate courses …Continue reading “Assistant professor delves into the business of bioenergy”
A year into a new role as an assistant professor of industrial and manufacturing systems engineering, Guiping Hu enjoys the added opportunities to help students pursue their own studies, not to mention exploring an unexpected realm of interdisciplinary collaboration. By training, Hu is an industrial engineer with a focus on operations research, supply chain management, …Continue reading “Assistant professor delves into the business of bioenergy”
When Robert Brown was perusing the early October publication of the National Academies of Sciences’ report on U.S. biofuels policy, his attention was drawn to its economic analysis. As he read on, Brown realized that this part of the report was heavily influenced by studies performed at Iowa State. “I was surprised to discover that …Continue reading “Brown discovers NAS report is based off Iowa State research”
Robert C. Brown wrote a guest column for the Des Moines Register that was published Oct. 7 in response to a National Academy of Science report. According to Brown, the report concludes that advanced biofuels made from cellulosic biomass (crop residues, grasses, and wood chips) will not be economically feasible without heavy subsidies or high petroleum …Continue reading “Brown responds to National Academy of Sciences report”
AMES, Iowa – Iowa State University’s Robert C. Brown keeps a small vial of brown, sweet-smelling liquid on his office table. “It looks like something you could pour on your pancakes,” he said. “In many respects, it is similar to molasses.” Brown, in fact, calls it “pyrolytic molasses.” That’s because it was produced by the …Continue reading “Iowa State researchers produce cheap sugars for sustainable biofuel production”
AMES, Iowa – Perhaps the three largest issues to face agriculture in this century are the food-versus-fuel debate in biofuel production, water and nutrient runoff, and soil erosion. Now, an Iowa State University-based study over the next five years will examine whether a single, coordinated production system can address all of these concerns while making …Continue reading “ISU-led group awarded $25 million grant for land use, biofuel production study”
Campus often seems quiet and barren during the summer months without the buzz of students, but tucked away in laboratories, researchers are hard at work. Of these scientists and engineers, some have traveled from all over the world to conduct cutting-edge research at Iowa State. This year, Vlasta Klima Balloun Professor of Engineering Hans van …Continue reading “Van Leeuwen hosts four visiting scientists”
Bernardo del Campo is a PhD candidate at the Bioeconomy Institute at Iowa State who helps lead an organization called the Next Generation Scientists for Biodiesel. Del Campo is helping answer the call for Iowa State to become an alternative fuels leader and he wrote the following editorial piece: Just like the national debt, our …Continue reading “PhD candidate featured in Biodiesel Magazine”
A mechanical engineering graduate student is bringing the Latin word renovo to life on Iowa State’s campus. Translated to English, renovo means to repair or restore, and it’s the underlying concept of Andrew Friend’s company Renovo Fuel Technologies. The company is based on Friend’s thesis research in renewable fuel. “We are hoping to market an …Continue reading “ME graduate student launches new company”
David Grewell flipped on the augers that carry corn from a truck to a biorefinery. Then, with a few more clicks of his computer mouse, he turned on the pumps that send grain all the way through an ethanol plant, from storage to hammer mill to slurry tanks to jet cooker to liquefaction, fermentation, distillation, …Continue reading “Learn to run a biorefinery in a virtual control room developed by Iowa State researchers”
