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Groundbreaking ceremonies were held last month for two Ohio ethanol plants, and more facilities are in the works.

Officials broke ground Jan. 20 on a plant in Fayette County being developed by ASAlliances Biofuels. It is expected to create 58 jobs, produce more than 100 million gallons of ethanol annually and use 40 million bushels of corn per year. The plant is expected to begin operations in mid-2007.

On Jan. 30, a groundbreaking dedication was held for Harrison Ethanol in Harrison County. The plant is expected to create 107 on-site jobs and 60 contract jobs and begin production early next year.

Dwayne Siekman, executive director of the Ohio Corn Growers Association, said three other ethanol plants are in the planning stages in Allen, Coshocton and Defiance counties. Siekman said Ohio is now able to compete in ethanol production with western states that had once had an advantage due to a more favorable corn basis and state incentives.

He said with the new energy bill, the requirement to use 7.5 billion gallons of ethanol by 2012 and the elimination of MTBE, Ohio is in a "perfect position" to supply the East Coast market with ethanol.

Consumer demand for ethanol is also expected to increase as the fuel becomes more available. A problem encountered in Ohio is the limited number of refueling locations for E85, a blend of 85 percent ethanol, 15 percent petroleum, but Siekman said that is changing.

"We started '05 with one pump. We now have six locations around the state, and it looks like we'll probably have another five to six in the next three months in the state of Ohio," he said.

He added that General Motors plans to build 400,000 flexible fueled vehicles next year, which will be identified by their yellow fuel cap. Ford has announced it will build 250,000 flexible vehicles including its popular F-150 pickup truck, he said.

"In addition they've just unveiled their new hybrid vehicle that runs on E85 and electricity, which is the first of its kind throughout the world," Siekman said.

Rising tensions between the United States and oil producing countries may also help drive consumer demand for homegrown fuels.

"I think people are starting to become aware of the global situations and the very fine line of what could happen with imported oil," Siekman said.

In the next two years, ethanol is expected to overtake exports as the second largest market for U.S. corn, and that has some livestock producers concerned about what will happen with the price of feed. But ethanol proponents say livestock producers will be able to take advantage of dried distillers grain, a high protein byproduct of ethanol production.

Siekman said Ohio should expand its focus beyond ethanol production to the development of a biobased processing industry.

"Ohio could be a leader in that area," he said.