University of Iowa hopes 

to use grass to power campus

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — The University of Iowa is hoping it will be able to use grass as a biofuel to help power the campus. About 70 people, including University of Iowa officials, on Sept. 10 toured Dan Black’s farm where he is growing giant miscanthus, a tropical tallgrass native to east Asia, the Iowa City Press-Citizen reported.

The university is aiming to use less energy in 2020 than it did in 2010, even as its campus expands. By 2020, the college wants to have 40 percent of its energy derived from renewable sources, according to Ben Anderson, the university’s power plant manager.

The school has been increasing its use of burning oat hulls in an attempt to draw down how much coal it burns at its power plant. Black approached the university to offer a portion of his property for its pilot project, with the college renting the 15 acres for five years and paying for the planting, maintenance and harvest of the grass. The school is also working with a farm near Muscatine to grow the grass.

“It just seems to make sense, if we can grow energy,” Black said. “It’s a renewable energy source – it just seems like it’s worth a try, worth the effort and worth the experimentation to see if this will work for us.” The university has said it hopes to seed an extra 2,500 acres of the plant by 2016.

Black said it is clear the grass has taken a liking to Iowa’s soil. In some areas, the grass has grown higher than 6 feet, which is about twice as tall as generally expected in its first year of growth, said Emily Heaton, an Iowa State University assistant professor of agronomy.

U of I ABE degree tied 

for rank of best in nation

URBANA, Ill. — The undergraduate program in the Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering (ABE) at the University of Illinois is once again ranked best in the nation by U.S. News and World Report. The 2015 U.S. News Best Colleges placed Illinois in a tie with Purdue University for the top spot. Texas A&M, Iowa State and Florida rounded out the top five.

U.S. News ranks undergraduate programs accredited by the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology based solely on the judgments of deans and senior faculty from participating colleges. U.S. News also asks for nominations of the best programs in specialty areas, such as biological and agricultural engineering; those receiving the most mentions are ranked in the publication.

“Developing and delivering great educational programs are among our core missions. We are very encouraged that our agricultural and biological engineering undergraduate program is recognized as a top program,” said K.C. Ting, department head of ABE since 2004. ABE at Illinois has been ranked consistently in one of the top three spots for almost a decade, including a previous four-year stint as number one. “We are in good company,” Ting concluded, “and we feel honored to receive this recognition.”

UTIA dairy scientist selected 

as Fulbright Scholar

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Peter Krawczel, an assistant professor with the University of Tennessee Institute of Agriculture, has been selected as a Fulbright Scholar for 2014-15. Krawczel is a faculty member focused on dairy research and extension in the UTIA Department of Animal Science, a unit of the UT College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources. 

The prestigious honor will fund Krawczel for five months of research and teaching focused on dairy welfare assessment and applied dairy research in Croatia. 

The Fulbright Program is an elite international exchange initiative that awards about 1,100 grants to American scholars each year.