OUR MISSION
Our mission is to provide affordable and timely testing for motor vehicle fuels and home heating oils.
WHO WE SERVE
The Iowa Central Fuel Testing Laboratory serves the fuel/biofuel industry. Our clients include producers, marketers, laboratories, consultants, transportation organizations, research firms and consumers. Our laboratory offers personal service, rapid turnaround (within 72 hours in most cases) at low cost. We are ISO-9001:2008 Accredited; and we are the first laboratory in the nation to have achieved BQ-9000 Accreditation (for biodiesel). To learn more about these programs, see FAQ and Resources.
HOW WE BEGAN
The Iowa Central Fuel Testing Laboratory began as an offshoot of the Biofuels Technology Program created at Iowa Central Community College in the fall of 2006. One of the cornerstone features of this program is the student teaching laboratory and its many state-of-the-art instruments used for performing biodiesel analyses according to ASTM methods.
We were approached in the fall of 2006 to assist in conducting the Two Million Mile Haul B20 biodiesel field trial with Decker Trucking of Fort Dodge, Iowa, employing both our instruments and students in the study. These efforts attracted the interest of several parties who collectively formed the idea of creating an independent fuel testing laboratory on the campus of Iowa Central.
We secured initial funding through a state appropriation that provided funds for the laboratory casework and an initial round of instrument purchases. Additional funding was provided through a Department of Energy grant that allowed for additional instrument purchases and further expansion.