GALVA, Iowa (AP) — Quad County Corn Processors in northwest Iowa’s Ida County, has launched a construction project to build onto its existing ethanol plant a facility that can make additional ethanol from corn kernel fiber. The $8.5 million project uses newly developed cellulosic ethanol science to convert additional parts of corn into ethanol at the company’s Galva plant. The project will add about 6 percent more ethanol from the same amount of corn. The plant currently makes 35 million gallons of ethanol a year.

General Manager Delayne Johnson says the process also will add several jobs. It also improves the protein content of the animal feed byproduct the plant sells to livestock farmers by about 40 percent. Construction is expected to be completed by next April.

Iowa has 41 ethanol refineries.