eCarly@CALS

Student Led Group Helps Keep The Wheels Rolling

Three hundred and thirty thousand gallons of fuel per year. That's how much fuel is needed to keep CyRide in motion throughout the Iowa State University campus and the city of Ames.

As fuel prices increase, the CyRide budget is hit harder. The BioBus club at Iowa State could start to play a vital role in addressing these budgeting issues through renewable fuels.

Two years ago, David Correll co-founded ISU's BioBus club with Bernardo del-Campo. Correll is president of BioBus and a graduate student in business. Since then, the group of about 25 students has been taking steps toward fueling CyRide using vegetable oil from one of the dining centers on campus. Using this vegetable oil, they process it into biodiesel.

"There is potential to collect 50-100 gallons of vegetable oil per week from this dining center," del-Campo stated.

Del-Campo is a graduate student working on his degree in biorenewable resources and technologies. He works as a graduate research assistant. Del-Campo is also one of four leaders selected for the national Next Generation Scientists for Biodiesel. The National Biodiesel Board established the campaign in 2010 to help gain support for energy leaders.

To launch the start of their trials, BioBus held an event on Earth Day. After fueling up CyRide, del-Campo and Correll waited in anticipation to see if everything would run smoothly. As the bus drove away, they breathed a sigh of relief.

"Suddenly the bus started to slow down and came to a stop. I thought oh-no," del-Campo exclaimed. "Shortly after we realized that the driver had stopped to yield to another CyRide bus headed in the same direction."

Currently, the BioBus program, part of ISU's Biorenewables Research Laboratory, produces five gallons of biodiesel per week that is used for trials in one CyRide bus. The bus runs on a blend of five percent biodiesel. So far, it has been a success.

David Correll is directly involved in the outreach and education programs for the project. He encourages other students to become involved and emphasizes the importance of being an active member to keep this project alive. Correll and other members of BioBus plan to visit junior high and high schools to teach students about biodiesel. Del-Campo has put together a portable biodiesel-processing lab that will allow students to see production in about an hour.

"We use vegetable oil that you would buy from a store when doing these demonstrations," explains Correll. "Using oil that already has impurities removed allows the process to be condensed into a shorter time-frame."

Although Iowa State isn't the only school in the country adopting biodiesel programs, they feel that their group is unlike many others out there. Iowa State's BioBus is unique in the fact that they are completely student-led, many other schools clubs are run by faculty or staff.

The BioBus club enjoys student members from a variety of majors across campus, including a number from CALS departments and programs. Correll said that some of the groups most active members have come from agricultural and biosystems engineering, agronomy, animal science, food science, and sustainable agriculture. The colleges of business, engineering and liberal arts and sciences are also well represented in the BioBus student membership. The club's adviser is Tom Brumm who is a professor in agricultural & biosystems engineering.

The club receives funding through grants such as the Pappajohn Center for Entrepreneurship, College of Business, alumni donations, the Bioeconomy Institute, as well as the College of Engineering. They hope that increased awareness about the group will help them to raise more money to continue to advance their research.

Biodiesel isn't the only product that can be used from the ISU Dining oil. Glycerin, a byproduct from the processing, is used to make hand soap. Del-Campo and Correll see a potential to sell hand soap to help with funding or supply to dorm restrooms on campus. But for now, they will keep their focus on biodiesel.

"I really enjoy the work that we do and find it very rewarding," says del-Campo. "The future of biodiesel is very promising and sustainable."

If you would like to learn more about this club or become a member, feel free to contact David Correll at correll@iastat.edu or Bernardo del-Campo at bernidc@iastate.edu.