Make-Your-Own Ethanol Stills Selling Strongly

[JohnWxy]

http://www.wcbs880.com/pages/29315.php?

For those tired of waiting for ethanol to become widely available and who want to save money on fueling their cars, making your own ethanol is an option some are taking.

Make-Your-Own Ethanol Stills Selling Strongly


NEW YORK (AP) -- Some people have gotten so desperate to put fuel in their cars they've begun making ethanol at home. There are dozens of Web sites explaining how to make ethanol from homemade stills -- which would run your cars for about 70 cents a gallon.

One of the companies that makes the kits for ethanol stills is Dogwood Energy in Tullahoma, Tennessee.

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Sasher - who is an engineer - says he began marketing the ethanol kits after Hurricane Katrina sent gasoline prices over 2.50 a gallon last year.

And now with gas hitting three dollars a gallon, more and more people are asking about the ethanol kits. Sasher says any car can run on a mixture of 15 percent ethanol and 85 percent gasoline.
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Dogwood Energy link

[benburch]

1. But, is it cost effective if you don't grow your own feed-stock?

Yes, if you farm, GREAT idea. But, what if you have to buy the corn to make the mash from? And what do you burn to drive the still?

[The Deacon]

2. Not to mention

That just adding ethanol to your gas tank would leave the stuff floating on top (gasoline is a lipid & alcohol is water-soluble.) Or the fact that distilling alcohol without a license happens to be against the law (see "George Washington and the Whiskey Rebellion")
I suspect that these kits save your gas money by putting it in the still-sellers pocket.

[rfkrfk]

8. untrue

gasolime is a hydrocarbon.
and can mix with ethanol in any proportion.

the problem is that the alcohol must be 99 percent free
of water.
that is certainly do-able, but is
an extra step.

[JohnWxy]

4. YEs. This assumes you are buying the corn mash. You don't have to grow

your own corn to do this :D .

http://www.examiner.com/a-108602~New_Life_for_the_Old_Still__DIY_Ethanol.html

"Marrcus Mollenarro, a Kenosha, Wis., businessman, has bought one of Sasher's stills to make it cheaper to run his six personal and business vehicles.

"We don't have to use oil from the Middle East. There are options," Mollenarro said

Dubose Porter of Dublin, Ga., a state representative and editor of The Courier Herald, said the newspaper has ordered a still to help offset delivery costs.

"The still idea is intriguing for a small company like ours," he said.

Using ethanol to power cars isn't new. The Model T Ford was originally built to run on alcohol."

This is obviously not for everybody, but by distilling your own ethanol you can save money and it's not just for those who raise their own corn.

Of course, making ethanol on an industrial scale is much more efficient. That's why Bill Gates, IVod Khosla, Craig Virgin and others are investing millions of $s in it. (Gates holds about 28% of the stock of Pacific Ethanol.).

[benburch]

5. Damn shame that my Prius cannot use more than E15. nt

[JohnWxy]

10. I think Ford is making a hybrid that will also have an E85 capable ICE.

Although, I don't know that it would compare in quality to the Toyota.

Here is a thought, go to www.congress.org. they make it easy to email your Congressmen and Senators. Tell them we need to make, not only E85 more available but also, E15. That way even people who can't go out and buy a new FFV can help reduce oil imports!

[Howardx]

3. hmmmmmm

i think im gonna get one, make some and store it in oak casks for 7 years

[kestrel91316]

6. Wow, finally a use for ALL THOSE DAMNED FIGS that drop off my huge

fig tree every summer!!!!!!!!!!!!! They already ferment, and then turn to fig vinegar all over the lawn. That's AFTER they go SPLAT.

[Dogmudgeon]

7. When do the Make-Your-Own LSD stills go on sale?

Like, there's going to be a serious problem with, like, flying, too, if this petroleum shortage thing, like, gets going, maaan.

:hippie:

--p!
Turn off your car, relax, and roll downhill
There is no petrol, there is no pe-e-trol ...
(John Lennon, The Hubbert Curve Meets Celestial Thermodynamics In Bed b/w I Dig A Hybrid)

[rfkrfk]

9. access to cheap heating, such as deadfall wood, and

access to corn at farmer's price,

is what you need.

It is really stupid for the US to export corn at
$2.60 a bushel, corn has more value than that as fuel.

[phantom power]

11. In other news...

Auto body shops reporting that "General Lee" paint jobs are selling at an all-time high...