Day one: The Great Corn Rush
HERON LAKE, MINN. -- The gleaming $110 million ethanol plant is still rising over their cornfields, but locals say it's already the best thing to happen here in decades.
Farmers and other area residents plunked down a minimum of $20,000 each to buy stock in the plant, and the electric co-op kicked in a $740,000 loan. The Hotel Whiskey Bar & Grill fills up on some nights with the plant's construction workers. And Mayor John Hay figures the plant will triple his city's tax base, making it possible to upgrade area roads and fix the leaky roof on the city-owned nursing home.
"If they didn't have that ethanol plant, there wouldn't be much of anything going on here," said Barb Pohlman, who sells vegetables in town from the back of her pickup truck.
Ethanol mania is sweeping through Heron Lake and many towns like it across the Corn Belt. Investors are spending billions in rural communities, sparking a wild rush to secure land, an industry movement to alter environmental standards and a rash of fierce bidding by communities desperate for their own plant.
Two decades after Minnesota farmers began mashing their corn into ethanol, the clear, odorless liquid is seen by many as the best chance for America to lessen its dependence on foreign oil. Few states have as big an investment in ethanol's success as Minnesota, which has funneled more than $300 million in subsidies to plant operators since 1982.
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Cargill dipping cautious, billion-dollar toe in ethanol boom
With an eye on risk, the conglomerate is working on a major expansion of its ethanol business, but with much of the focus on aiding the companies that own production plants.
More from this series:
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Day two: A big believer, bettor in ethanol
Since 1988, Ron Fagen's firm has built about two-thirds of the U.S. capacity. The Minnesotan invested in plants, too, and has a huge stake in the industry. -
Graphic:
How ethanol is made
The dry milling method is the most common process used to convert corn into ethanol. -
Ethanol from corn
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Day three: Working in tandem
As ethanol booms, some question the extent of environmental review. One proposal has Minnesota officials closely aligned with a plant's interests. -
EPA looks to help the industry grow
The federal agency is proposing rule changes that would allow ethanol plants to more than double the amount of chemicals they put in the air. Opponents say the move would harm public health. -
Day four: Outside interests put money on table
Ethanol was built on cash from farmers and their neighbors. But the boom is pushing them aside in favor of deeper pockets from elsewhere.