Biofuels industry creates large number of jobs for lab workers

The nascent biofuels sector is not only reviving the rural economy across the world, bringing new opportunities to farmers, it is also resulting in a large number of new jobs for laboratory workers, engineers, researchers, and trained employees. An illustration comes from Iowa, the center of the U.S. biofuels industry.

Instructor Donald Heck, who coordinates the 'Biotechnology and Biofuels Technology' program Iowa Central Community College teaches students how biodiesel and ethanol are made and learn testing them for temperature, reaction time and other factors.

"There is a huge need for trained employees in the biofuels industry. Everywhere I go, people in the industry are saying to me, 'Give me your students. I need them all,'" says Heck.

Located in the bulls-eye of Iowa's ethanol and biodiesel plants, Iowa Central's Biofuels Technology Degree Program began last fall. Training ethanol and biodiesel plant workers is a priority, industry officials say, and having a pool of lab-savvy workers will support the three biorefineries nearby.

A similar program is getting off the ground at Ellsworth Community College near Iowa Falls, where an ethanol plant and a biodiesel plant are operating. What distinguishes the Iowa Central biofuels program is a proposal to establish a biofuels testing lab for state and national regulators.

Iowa Central's program began 18 months ago, when Heck came from Iowa State University, where he did post-doctoral research and taught for five years. "We're trying to bring the same level of ambition and commitment to the sciences here that we had at Iowa State. I'm going to push them to it" Heck says:
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Alicia Clancy, communications specialist for the Renewable Energy Group in Ralston - a biodiesel producer, marketer and plant developer - said biodiesel plants employ about 30 workers, from general manager on down. "The Iowa Central program will really help people so they can hit the ground running when they are hired," Clancy said.

Biofuels plant employee salaries can start at $35,000 a year, Heck said. Bob Paxton, president of Iowa Central Community College, said the biofuels industry will create 900 jobs in the next year in the Midwest.

"Our mission is to provide the plants with trained workers for these jobs," he said. "I knew there would be demand for a program to train employees of ethanol and biodiesel plants as they are springing up in Iowa."

Competition
Farmer Bill Horan of Rockwell City, a director of several Renewable Energy Group-affiliated biodiesel plants, pointed to tight competition for trained biofuels employees. "Our plants are training employees and then the employees are getting stolen by other companies," he said.

Clancy and Horan said the biofuels program has given Iowa Central a leg up in its effort to establish a fuel testing lab.

"It's an essential element to give people confidence that they can run their engines safely," Clancy said.

Horan said that delays in getting test results back to the plants is costing money.

"We are sending our samples out of state and waiting three weeks for results," Horan said. "If we can have our test results back in 24 hours, that's millions and millions and millions of dollars that can be saved."

Now, samples of Iowa biofuels are shipped by the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship to the University of Missouri for testing.

Matt Caswell, public affairs director for the Iowa Soybean Association, said Iowa Central's testing lab has impressed biodiesel industry leaders.

"It's time for Iowa to get serious about fuel testing," Caswell said. "We need to leverage what the Iowa Central lab has now and take them to the next level."

Caswell said $250,000 is being sought from the Iowa Power Fund, if it is approved by the Legislature this year.

The state money will be matched by $1 million in federal funds, Caswell said, to help finance the fuel testing lab.

"We're right in the middle of the renewable energy heartland," he said. "We want to exploit what's at Iowa Central right now because we don't have time to wait for it. We needed it yesterday."

Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Bill Northey hasn't endorsed a specific site, but he does want a biofuels testing lab in Iowa.

"At this time, multiple facilities are still under consideration for funding, and the department is willing to work with the Legislature on moving forward through this process," Northey said.

James Kersten, associate vice president of development and government relations at Iowa Central, said the college's board is expected to seek voter approval in June to raise money, in part, for a Bioscience Building and Training Center that would include a biofuels testing lab on the Fort Dodge campus.

The testing lab could be another training ground for Iowa Central students, Kersten said.

Hands-on
Back in the lab, Heck watched the students run a variety of tests on the biodiesel they made from soy, coconut, peanut and other oils.

Heck answered a question or two and directed students to lab equipment they needed, but he stayed out of their way as they ran their tests.

"They figure out how they are going to do the experiments, so they are engaged in the thinking process," Heck said. "They can do it. They just need someone to teach them."

Paxton said Heck's commitment to the biofuels program is one of the reasons it has progressed so far so fast.

"Don has a passion for this," Paxton said. "For rural Iowa, this is our opportunity for economic growth. Hopefully, as those plants evolve, our students will be able to evolve with them."

Image: Andrew Harris, 19, of Perry drains off a biodiesel sample during a class in the biofuels program at Iowa Central Community College in Fort Dodge. Graduates are highly sought after because of the rapid growth of the industry and a shortage of trained employees. Don Heck runs the two-year biofuels program. Credit: Justin Hayworth/Register Photos