A North Dakota corn grower group says it will push legislation to require a 10 percent blend of ethanol in all gasoline except premium.

Jocie Iszler, executive director of the North Dakota Corn Growers Association, said the mandate would increase the amount of ethanol-blended gasoline used in the state from about 12 million gallons per year to 40 million gallons.

Iszler said the legislation would be pitched to Gov. John Hoeven today.

Legislation to mandate ethanol use in North Dakota has failed twice since 2001, Iszler said.

"The climate is different now with the war in Iraq," she said. "Gas prices are higher, and people are feeling the need to reduce our dependency on foreign oil."

Lance Gaebe, a farm policy adviser to Hoeven, said the governor supports boosting production and consumption of ethanol and other renewable fuels but does not want to make it compulsory.

"We have the same goals to increase the market share of ethanol, but we want to see it as demand-pull, rather than a mandate-push," Gaebe said. "We want people to want to buy the product instead of forcing them to buy it."

The state has subsidized cheaper ethanol-blended gas and has on ongoing promotion for it use, Gaebe said. About $500,000 is available over the next three years to promote "GoE" - North Dakota's brand of the fuel made from corn.

Iszler and Gaebe said 30 percent of the gasoline produced in North Dakota contains 10 percent ethanol, compared to only 11 percent five years ago. Gaebe said the goal is to increase the amount to 50 percent by the end of next year.

Wimbledon farmer Mike Clemens, president of the corn growers group, said the proposed legislation is "a step in the right direction in getting the fuel in the market."

Increasing use of the cleaner-burning fuel will help corn producers, the environment and the consumer, Iszler and Clemens said.

Ethanol-blended gasoline can be cheaper at the pump than straight gasoline, Iszler said.

And growers typically can fetch up to 20 cents a bushel more for corn sold for ethanol production, Clemens said.

"With oil at $50 a barrel and corn at rock-bottom prices, it sure looks like the stars are aligned for ethanol," he said.

Some 1.8 million acres of corn was planted in the state this year, surpassing the 1934 record of 1.67 million, the Agriculture Department said.

North Dakota has two ethanol plants, in Grafton and Walhalla. Others are being planned in Valley City, Williston and Richardton.

Frank Kirschenheiter, coordinator of the Richardton project, said Red Trail Energy LLC is nearing its equity goal to start building the $78 million plant.

Red Trail still is seeking about $3 million in private contributions to complete its equity drive, Kirschenheiter said Tuesday. Backers are confident that money will be raised by the end of the year, he said. Excavation work at a site began last week.

Kirschenheiter said he supports that all gasoline be blended with ethanol. But he said market forces and environmental worries - not lawmakers - will prompt the oil industry to boost production of ethanol.

"I think it's going to happen whether there is legislation or not," Kirschenheiter said. "The industry will make it happen."

Minnesota, California, Connecticut, parts of New York, and some big cities require cleaner-burning blends such as ethanol, said Ron Lamberty, market development director for the American Coalition for Ethanol in Sioux Falls, S.D.

"In Minnesota, it was done to aggressively build ethanol plants for economic development," he said.