A new ethanol plant is being built amid the cornfields of northwestern Indiana, and it will provide greater economic stability for area farmers.

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When completed at the end of this year, the plant annually will produce 40 million gallons of fuel-grade ethanol -- a clear, odorless liquid -- from 14 million bushels of corn.

Iroquois Bio-Energy Co. LLC, the corporate owner, sprouted four years ago when a group of farmers came together to build an ethanol plant to improve the profits from their crops. They hired Keith Gibson, a chemical engineer from Tampa, Fla., to get it going and purchased 68 acres near the CSX railroad line in Rensselaer.

"Farmers will sell the corn to us directly," Gibson said. "For the investors, instead of being solely reliant on the (market) price of corn, you also have income derived from the fuel sales. You're diversifying your farm's income potential."

The plant, which is expected to cost about $65 million to build, is Indiana's second and will employ 34 workers. It includes four two-story galvanized steel buildings totaling 40,000 sq. ft., two 80-ft. concrete grain silos and a small administrative center.

Outside will be a massive labyrinth of tanks, distillation columns and other mostly stainless-steel processing equipment and railroad spur. The overall footprint will be about 25 acres. Whatever land is unused will be planted with corn.

"It's nothing real imposing," Gibson said. "The bulk of the plant you probably won't even see in the summer because of the cornstalks."

Serving as general contractor is Granite Falls, Minn.-based Fagen Inc. The design firm is Colwich, Kan.-based ICM Inc. Calls to the companies for comment were not returned.

A Good Burn

Ethanol provides extra oxygen to help engines burn cleaner by reducing carbon dioxide emissions.

Until recent years, the chemical methyl tertiary-butyl ether, or MTBE, was used but it is being phased out across the country because of groundwater contamination issues. In contrast, ethanol leaves almost no residue as it burns.

Illinois has banned MTBE and Indiana has limited its use to 0.5 percent by volume, both since July 2004.

Ethanol as a fuel additive is "different from the distillation for beverage purposes," Gibson said. The manufacturing process is relatively simple and ecologically sound, he added.

"You take corn, cook it, put some enzymes in it like in a laundry detergent," Gibson said. "That breaks down the corn. You feed it to yeast, the yeast eats it, converts the sugar and starches into ethanol and respirates carbon dioxide. It's a lot cleaner than most chemical plants or fuel plants. If you spill it, you shovel it up and put it back in the process. It's just corn, essentially."

All water used during the process is recirculated; there is no discharge to the environment. As for byproducts, the carbon dioxide will be sold for making dry ice and the mulchy-like corn remains will be dried and sold as animal feed called distillers grain.

Financing Frustrations

The toughest challenge so far was raising money, which took more than three years.

"States like Iowa and Minnesota have typically put together their financing in as few as three or four months or a year," Gibson said. "We tried a public offering but didn't get much support, so we had to go exterior to Indiana."

Ultimately, about 350 private investors signed on and the U.S. Department of Energy kicked in a $5 million grant. The balance was financed through two agricultural banks.

With the funds secured, ground was broken in early September. The delay, however, added $4 million to the tab because of increased steel prices.

First off was preparing the site, which has striations of 8 to 10 in. of topsoil and 3 to 4 ft. of clay above solid limestone. The crews have no basements to dig, but to improve drainage and facilitate utility runs, they raised the terrain beneath the plant 2.5 ft. All fill was available onsite.

Then came pouring the concrete for foundations and footers for the buildings and tanks, which was done even though December was a record cold month.

"We used blankets," Gibson said. "If you get under the frost line, the ground stays pretty warm. If you keep the heat in, you're pretty OK."

Soon to come: digging two wells to bring water to the site and adding a 2,600-ft.-long spur to connect the plant to the railroad, which is the main track between Indianapolis and Chicago. CSX will put in the switch and the rest is up to Iroquois. All contracts have been awarded.

"It's taken a long time to get to the actual building," Gibson said. "There were a lot of months of frustration and anguish in the middle. I breathe a lot easier now."

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