A Louisville-area family business is considering the Riverport industrial complex for a proposed $75 million ethanol plant that could produce 50 million gallons of the gasoline supplement a year.

For the People LLC, of Corydon, Ind., unveiled the proposed design Tuesday night to Riverport tenants and some of its potential residential neighbors near the site at 8300 Cane Run Road.

The meeting was part of the requirements for obtaining planning and zoning approval for the project.

The plant would use 60-foot wind turbines, solar panels and a geothermal system to limit outside energy demands. The company projects 60 full-time jobs with an annual payroll of $2 million.

The plant would use about 18 million bushels of corn a year, said its designer, Kevin Milburn, of rkm designz inc. in Louisville.

The owners are pursuing tax incentives from Kentucky to build the plant, Milburn said.

That would be about 15 percent of the approximately 115 million bushels that the state sends to market each year, said Steve Riggins, a University of Kentucky grain market specialist.

But a Louisville ethanol plant wouldn't necessarily have a direct impact on Kentucky farmers because shipping patterns make it more likely that the corn would come from Ohio, Riggins said. "You're not going to pull grain from Fulton County on the Mississippi River back to Louisville."

The plant's appetite for corn could add a few cents a bushel to the overall market price, he said.

For the People is a family enterprise that includes Frank Wethington, two of his daughters and a son-in-law, Milburn said. He declined to discuss the project further.

In a statement, Milburn said the company also is considering locating in Indiana.

Metro government spokesman Chris Poynter said the city has been following the ethanol project and hopes it locates in Louisville, both for the economic impact and for the company's apparent commitment to operating an environmentally friendly facility.

Plans include capturing and selling the carbon dioxide and grain solids produced in distilling ethanol, plus wastewater treatment for the 2 million gallons of water the plant would use each day.

A spokeswoman for the Speedway chain of gas-and-convenience stores said the company is always looking for new product sources, but it has a 50 percent partnership in a 110 million-gallon-a-year ethanol plant under construction in Ohio.

Reporter David Goetz can be reached at (502) 582-4698.