Ethanol as Economic Elixir

Fuel alternative helps revive a struggling Illinois farm region

Lena, Ill. — The sunrises seem brighter and the mood is jauntier in this rural village of 2,900 — ever since ethanol, dreams of American energy independence and an economic shot in the arm came to town.

Lena, in the fertile northwest corner of Illinois, is home to the $69 million Adkins Energy plant, a 4-year-old facility that ferments 42.5 million gallons of ethanol annually from 15 million bushels of locally produced corn. It also churns out tons of the brewing process’ byproduct, a foul-smelling, high-protein yellow animal feed that comes in two flavors — wet and dry — that cattle can’t get enough of.

“If not for this, I would have left,” said 29-year-old Doug Roberts of Lena as he stood in the spotless, computerized Adkins plant control room. “A lot of my classmates aren’t here anymore. They’re spread all over.”

Roberts, a plant operator, holds one of the 35 full-time jobs at Adkins, jobs that didn’t exist until the plant opened four years ago. He also works with his parents on their 500 acres of farmland, in all putting in 70 to 80 hours a week.

San Francisco Chronicle