Ethanol will continue to be Iowa's main alternative energy product. The Iowa Renewable Fuels Association says the state is currently producing 1.135 billion gallons annually, a figure that will increase to 1.7 billion gallons in two years. The state currently has 22 ethanol plants in operation with 8 more planned.
   One of the latest to begin production is Horizon Ethanol, which began production at its plant near Jewell in March. The facility will process 21 million bushels of corn into 60 million gallons of ethanol annually. It employs 40.
   Energy-related efforts aren't the only users of Iowa's plentiful natural resources. An alliance of one of the world's agricultural processing giants and a biotech firm plans a project to produce biodegradable plastics.
   Clinton, Iowa, will be the site of the first commercial plant to produce PHA natural plastics, a renewable, biodegradable product made from corn. Archer Daniels Midland Co. and Metabolix will produce PHA under a strategic alliance that commercializes PHA's proprietary technology.
   The new plant, with an initial annual capacity of 50,000 tons per year, will be located adjacent to ADM's wet corn mill and will utilize starch from the mill's existing corn grind capacity as raw material for PHA production. The companies expect construction to be completed in mid-2008.