Bio-degradable plastics should be getting more and more popular. Alternative Energy subsidies could also put a real spotlight on the industry, if not a game changing one. Note that solar thermal, which uses mirrors to concentrate sunlight to produce steam, may also have application.
excerpt from link:
"Corn wet milling is the most energy intensive industry within the food and kindred products group (SIC 20), using 15% of the energy in the entire food industry. After corn, energy is the second largest operating cost for corn wet millers in the United States. A typical corn wet milling plant in the United States spends approximately $20 to $30 million per year on energy, making energy efficiency improvement an important way to reduce costs and increase predictable earnings, especially in times of high energy-price volatility."
link:
http://www.energystar.gov/ia/business/in...