Are storm clouds ahead for rural communities with ethanol plants?

That’s what Andrew Isserman, a professor of agriculture economic and urban and regional planning at the University of Illinois, wonders in a new study he has co-authored.

“Our research found lots of storm clouds that posed risks for ethanol plants, even though the industry was go-go-go at the time,” he said “The last 15 months have proven just how risky it is.”

Just over a year ago, Isserman said the U.S. ethanol industry was still in “overdrive, fueling a wave of new factories to keep pace with surging demand for the corn-based gasoline additive.”

But the boom, he said,  has since stalled amid a deep economic downturn that has stifled demand.

In a study Isserman co-authored, he found that plants are beset with a host of uncertainties, ranging from shifts in federal energy policy and global economics to changing technology that threatens the long-term viability of corn as an ethanol blend.