Burning waste hulls from Quaker Oats will save University of Iowa more than $500,000 annually, cut air emissions

IOWA CITY - Governor Tom Vilsack today announced the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has granted his request for a waiver of an EPA permit review, which will allow the University of Iowa power plant to burn waste oat hulls from Quaker Foods and Beverages in Cedar Rapids. The project will reduce the use of coal by 20,000 to 30,000 tons per year and save the university more than half a million dollars each year in energy costs.

"Iowa has tremendous potential to be a leading center for renewable energy sources like wind, ethanol and biomass," Vilsack said. "This project is a great example of how cost effective it can be to use an environmentally-friendly fuel source."

EPA approval will allow the project, which began in January, to continue on a permanent basis. It was previously run on short-term experimental permits from the EPA and the Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR). Burning the oat hulls lessens the power plant's dependence on coal to produce energy and reduces energy costs and air emissions. The university will burn about 30,000 to 50,000 tons of oat hulls each year.

"The University of Iowa project is really the culmination of a concerted effort by Quaker Oats to dispose of oat hulls in a way that is friendly to the environment," said Steve Jenkins, manager of facilities engineering at Quaker. "We are pleased that this project results in a win-win-win situation - the university benefits by lowering its energy costs, Quaker has found a cost-effective use for a by-product and Iowa's environment benefits by the use of a renewable fuel source that actually improves our air quality."

Based on DNR supervised testing at the UI power plant, particulate matter such as soot would be reduced by 50 percent if the power plant burned 80 percent oat hull rather than just coal. Carbon monoxide and sulfur dioxide emissions would be reduced by 60 percent and nitrogen oxide emissions would be reduced by 15 percent.

"We're delighted to be able to work together with the DNR and EPA to find a way to allow for the use of this fuel," said Ferman Milster, UI associate director of utilities.