MANKATO — About 24 hours before the entourage arrived, Colin Campion was told he'd be revving up his Minnesota State University test car Thursday for a few important people from St. Paul.
He had the shop in MSU's Minnesota Center for Automotive Research squared away and the emissions-testing equipment ready to roll before he learned it was actually U.S. Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns, a member of President Bush's Cabinet, who would be stopping by. Ten minutes after that, Campion's lab was full of photographers with flashing cameras, two congressmen, state officials and a variety of other men and women in suits.
The graduate student was surprised but not shaken.
"It shows that the MNCAR lab is getting national attention," Campion said after the crowd had evaporated.
Johanns had just finished an agricultural forum at the university that included information about what MSU is doing to improve the efficiency of biofuels and the way they are used. Some of the cutting-edge projects that biofuel-related businesses are working on in southern Minnesota also were discussed.
One of those businesses, Easy Automation Inc. of Welcome, is developing a process by which a million gallons of ethanol per year can be produced in a space the size of the large shipping containers used on ships and semis. Mark Gaalswyk, the company's chief executive officer, said the system would allow existing feed mills, or even individual farmers, to produce ethanol.
Learning about that technology was one of the highlights of Johanns' visit, he said.
"When you think of the possibility moving a portable ethanol plant to a farm, that's exciting," Johanns said. "That really is world changing."
Being at the forefront of energy technology studies is nothing new for the university, MSU President Richard Davenport said. The university's faculty has more than 30 years experience testing the uses of biofuels in combustion engines.
In the 1970s, after gas prices spiked because of a Mideast oil embargo, the university created a "50/50" car with the goal of getting 50 miles to a gallon of gas while traveling 50 mph. The car ultimately logged 62 miles per gallon.
"The university fits with the national agenda of renewable energy," Davenport said. "This is the research energy capital of Minnesota."
Johanns' university visit came on the heels of an announcement that MSU's automotive program could receive a $100,000 state grant to study the use of ethanol-based fuels in hybrid vehicles, and to examine ways to improve the use of battery power during short trips.
After spending about 15 minutes in the auto research lab, Johanns and several other people headed to Lake Crystal for lunch and a tour of the Northstar Ethanol plant.
Johanns said he made the trip to southern Minnesota at the request of Congressmen Gil Gutknecht and Mark Kennedy and because Bush had highlighted the need for improved renewable energy during his last State of the Union Address.
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