The plant, owned by chemical and biotechnology company DuPont, will use the same bacteria that tequila distillers use to make ethanol instead of yeast, which is most prevalent in the ethanol industry.

In 1918 during World War I, the federal government contracted with DuPont to build a gunpowder plant. “There were 30,000 employees reporting to work daily, and it is estimated that over 650,000 ...