MARSHALL -- Provisions in a U.S. Senate bill would triple the amount of corn-based ethanol in the nation's fuel, and Minnesota Corn Processors is in a position to expand with the industry.

A general agreement reached in the Senate would boost production of ethanol from a current 1.7 billion gallons to 5 billion gallons in the next seven years. In effect, ethanol would comprise 3 percent of the nation's fuel supply.

The proposal is a compromise among environmentalist, the oil industry and farmers, and MCP President Dan Thompson said the ethanol industry will never be the same.

"It's a very good deal," Thompson said. "We are talking about expanding the ethanol market place. It's a huge deal for the ethanol industry, renewable energy and agriculture as a whole."

Thompson said 700 million bushels of corn were used to produce ethanol last year. If the current proposal comes to fruition, a projected 2 billion bushels of corn will be used a year, he said.

The increased number of bushels which will be required to produce ethanol means expanding MCP's current production plants to full capacity and obtaining marketing agreements with new and existing ethanol plants.

MCP is currently the second largest marketer of ethanol nationwide, capable of producing 140 million gallons a year. Thompson said he would like to double the current number of gallons handled through marketing agreements, bringing production to between 400 and 600 million gallons of ethanol a year.

"Then, you are a very significant player in the industry for a very long period of time," he said.

Expanding production at MCP's two main plants in Marshall and Columbus, Neb., means an additional 25 million gallons. Five million additional gallons will be produced in Marshall; 20 million more gallons will come from the Nebraska plant.

Through the years, the oil industry has consistently thrown roadblocks in the way of expanding ethanol production. It took the downfall of MTBE, one of its own products, to bring the industry to the bargaining table.

MTBE was the oil industry's answer to a clean-air gasoline additive, but it has fouled waterways and contaminated drinking water in dozens of states. It makes up 10 percent of the current fuel supply.

Thompson said the oil industry saw the writing on the wall and needed to make a compromise.

"The old companies realize it (MTBE) is going to be banned, and there is no question something has to take its place," Thompson said. "Ethanol will have to be used if the oil companies want to reduce major price spikes."

During the next decade, demand for ethanol will be so high that the agriculture community may see shifts in corn acreage, Thompson said. As more corn is planted to supplement the demand for ethanol fewer acres of soybeans will be produced, which in turn will drive soybean prices higher.

"It is hard to see this as anything but win-win in the Midwestern states," Thompson said.

Ethanol is a viable substitute for MTBE because the product has been fine-tuned and engines have been designed to run better on alternative fuels, Thompson said.

Environmental benefits of ethanol have been proven in several of the country's largest cities, he said.