By the end of the year, Iowa will have produced a record 1.5 billion gallons of ethanol, more than one quarter of all the ethanol produced in the nation this year.

According to the Iowa Renewable Fuels Association, Iowa ethanol plants will produce 36 percent more ethanol than last year’s 1.1 billion gallons.

With 26 biorefinies in operation, Iowa already has more ethanol plants than any other state. Another 16 new ethanol plants are under contruction and five major expansions underway which could more than double the state’s production by next year at this time. More than a dozen new projects are expected to be started in 2007.

Read more from the Associated Press.