By Lori EhdeSince Loren Forrest first pitched his idea for producing fuel from corn stalks, he’s found it challenging to stay ahead of the rumors.Would rats infest the large piles of corn silage needed to feed the fuel production? Will the plant stink and harm the environment? How much will it cost and will local tax dollars support it?On Tuesday night, he and his son, Russell Forrest, hosted a community meeting to answer questions and put fears to rest — they hoped.Rural Energy Marketing, LLC, as they’re called, is proposing a $40 to $50 million ethanol plant that would produce fuel, not from corn kernels, but from corn waste."It’s the stalks, the cobs, the leaves — all the junk that flies out of the back of the combine," Russell explained.Many area corn producers bale this corn stover, as it’s called, after harvest into large round bales and feed it to livestock.It’s these round bales — about 800 per day — that will feed the ethanol plant the Forrests are proposing.There would be no large stockpiles to attract rats (as some have worried). "We’ll replenish our inventory every 10 days," Loren said.They said based on the amount of corn produced in and around Rock County, there should be more than enough round baled corn stover to supply the plant.In talking with area farmers, the Forrests say their idea has been well-received among local corn producers, and a meeting is scheduled for March 28 for corn producers to sign contracts.The contracts will commit them to providing a certain tonnage to the plant at a price higher than they’re currently getting for the stover as livestock feed."This means about $100 per acre to the farmer, and we’ll need about 70,000 acres of corn committed," Loren said. "So this will put roughly $7 million back into the local economy."Those contracts will be contingent on the plant actually materializing, and they will give these corn producers an option to invest in the process when the time comes.The meeting is at 7:30 p.m. in the Blue Mound Banquet and Meeting Center, Luverne.More efficient than ethanol production from fermentationBut the corn product isn’t the only thing different from current ethanol plants. They said the process is much cleaner."There won’t be any emissions," Russell said. "There won’t be a smell; there won’t be a mess."They plan to use an Australian-patented dryer that uses the steam in the process so that no steam escapes from the plant."The (current) ethanol plant uses a fermentation process," Russell said. "We’ll use a thermal process with heat and pressure."The only thing left over when the stover’s done cooking is a pile of ashes, and even that isn’t waste. It can be spread on local crop soil to replenish minerals.The Forrests claim their process will produce double the amount of ethanol as a standard ethanol plant — up to 291 gallons for each ton of corn stover.They said this thermal process of producing alternative fuel isn’t new. Europe and Africa are doing it and, "It was used to fuel the German war machine," Loren said.What’s new about the Forrests’ proposal — and a few others being researched across the country — is that the old methods have used coal, which isn’t as clean."It leaves behind a lot of tar in the ashes," Russell said.Loren himself has spent the past five years personally researching the process, right down to the complicated chemistry and how the plant would be physically set up.It costs money to get moneyHe has asked for local government help, but money is hard to come by for such new — and expensive — ideas. The LEDA denied the Forrests’ request in January of 2004 for a $250,000 loan, and they denied a request in September of 2005 for a $300,000 that would be forgiven over five years with the addition of 30 employees.The Forrests are convinced their plant will be successful, and Loren even said he feels God is telling him to do it. "He dumps these things on my lap and I have no idea where they came from," he said.The problem for the Forrests — regardless of how successful their plant may or not become – is that it costs a fortune to turn the dream into reality.They’re attracting financial support in the form of local investments, but they still have big hurdles to clear before any ground can be broken on construction.There is federal money available for projects such as the Forrests’ that can produce fuel from sources other than oil. But before they can qualify for those dollars, they need to present a viable plan, and that alone can be costly.An engineering firm is currently working on the physical layout and viability of the plant. That job alone costs roughly $1 million.