(The Associated Press circulated the following article on May 31.)
DES MOINES, Iowa — Iowa’s booming ethanol industry is fueling a demand for railroads to haul the alternative fuel to gasoline markets.
Two railroads — Union Pacific and Burlington Northern Santa Fe — have reported that they’ve seen shipments soar.
Ethanol plants in Iowa have received nearly $1.5 million in state aid to connect to the railroads.
At Pine Lake Corn Processors in Steamboat Rock, the lower cost of shipping ethanol by rail has allowed it to move ahead with plans for its own short-line railroad. The tracks will provide the plant with its choice of two railroads — the Canadian National Railway in Ackley and the Union Pacific Railroad in Marshalltown.
Iowa is the nation’s largest ethanol-producing state with 25 plants. By year’s end, Iowa will also have six biodiesel plants.