A legion of political figures from every level of government in Mississippi joined more than 300 others from the business community to help break ground Thursday for an ethanol plant at the Vicksburg Harbor, signaling a local role in the nation’s changing energy picture.

Ethanol is a fuel or fuel additive distilled from farm crops, usually corn, and is being used to reduce dependence on fossil fuels.

The Vicksburg venture is jointly sponsored by Ergon Refining Inc., an oil company, and Bunge North America, a grain company.

Gathering under a tent just a few hundred feet from where the alternative fuel is to be produced, the project was touted by executives of both companies as a key to energy independence for Mississippi and the nation.

&#8220We estimate that over 2 million fewer barrels of crude oil will be imported each year as a result of this plant,” said Don Davis, executive vice president of Ergon, based in Jackson.

Upon its completion, targeted for late 2007, the two companies will have invested $100 million on an operation that will produce 60 million gallons of ethanol annually from 21 million bushels of corn. Its $2 million payroll will employ 32 people at the plant and create about 150 construction jobs in the interim.

Ergon already employs 600 people in Warren County, chiefly at its petroleum refining plant already at the E.W. Haining Industrial Center on the Yazoo Diversion Canal north of downtown Vicksburg. St. Louis-based Bunge, a leading grain buyer in the United States, maintains a presence in Vicksburg with an elevator that receives, stores and transships grain.

&#8220We pledge to make this venture one you’ll point to as one that shows what can be done when neighbors invest in their communities,” said Bailey Ragan, senior vice president of Bunge.

Mayor Laurence Leyens called Thursday’s ceremony &#8220a great day for Vicksburg,” leading off a list of speakers that included Gov. Haley Barbour, U.S. Sens. Trent Lott and Thad Cochran, U.S. Reps. Bennie Thompson and Chip Pickering and state Rep. George Flaggs Jr.

Gov. Barbour and Sens. Lott and Cochran praised both companies for their success inside and outside the state.

&#8220They are a world-class economic force,” Cochran said.

Lott said the issue of energy independence was &#8220right at the top” of challenges for the United States.

&#8220It’s scary, the dependence we have on foreign oil. We’ve got to diversify. We’ve got to have alternative sources,” he said.

Barbour pointed out the project was financed exclusively by the two companies and without state sources.

&#8220This ethanol plant will operate with no subsidies and built to be profitable in the marketplace. If this business cannot be successful or profitable, it shouldn’t be here,” Barbour said. Referring to other energy-related projects planned in the state, including liquefied natural gas outlets and biodiesel plants, Barbour said his vision for Mississippi is to be &#8220an energy reliant state.”

Warren County supervisors have approved tax incentives for the project, including a commitment for free port warehousing within an inventory tax exemption and one on finished goods. A separate commitment for a fee-in-lieu of property taxes amounting to a third of the tax levy was made to Ergon for expansion of its current plant if that endeavor exceeds $100 million in cost.

Ninety-seven ethanol plants are operating in the United States with another 35 under construction. More than 150 are said to be planned in the coming years as ethanol is expected to have greater appeal in the face of the intensifying search of alternatives to fossil fuels.

An energy bill passed by Congress last year helped spur much of the interest, as it mandated 50 percent increases in the amount of ethanol used by motorists by 2012.

According to statistics compiled by the U.S. Department of Energy, more than 5 billion barrels of crude oil were imported to the United States in 2005, with about 60 percent of that coming from five countries: Canada, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, Venezuela and Nigeria.

DOE stats also show U.S. Crude Oil Field Production at 1.89 million barrels for 2005.

While not proved to be an additive that increases fuel economy in consumer vehicles, ethanol’s chief benefit is its clean-burning and renewable qualities.

South Dakota-based nonprofit American Coalition for Ethanol cites tests by chemical engineers that conclude ethanol enhances octane when used in most consumer vehicles and improves acceleration.