Coskata, the hot ethanol company of the moment, has announced a partnership with ICM to bring their first plant online by 2010. The advanced biofuels company's much heralded partnership with GM, and their claims of commercial ethanol at $1 per gallon, have had industry insiders and investors salivating over a potential return to the good old days of arbitrage in the ethanol markets. Other analysts have reported seeing microorganisms running madly into the woods for fear of getting caught up in Coskata's conversion process. But who's this ICM character? ICM is a construction and engineering firm that's had a hand in building more than 50 percent of domestic ethanol production capacity. You go to Papelbon for the save, and ICM for the ethanol plant. Despite their big industry position, ICM also has a dark side. According to a back issue of Ethanol Producer Magazine "the worst-kept secret in this industry is that ICM-designed dry mills consistently produce above nameplate." That doesn't sound so bad, does it? Actually running ethanol plants above nameplate capacity is a little like running your car at 5000 rpms in first or second gear. It may be fun and it might make you go fast, but "[t]he risks associated with full-throttle production include a loss of efficiency, premature equipment degradation, more downtime, higher maintenance costs, increased safety concerns, and a potential loss of product quality," according to the Ethanol Producer Magazine article. Who's fault is this? Is it anyone's fault? The ethanol companies boost production to get cash, which is even more tempting as the price gap between corn and ethanol continues to close. Which is even more tempting if you can figure out how to squeeze more ethanol out of the same amount of corn. Ahem. But, ICM, which builds the plants, gets to fix them too. So, you know, we're not pointing any fingers.