Make ethanol at home

[jeepers]

http://www.dailytech.com/article.aspx?newsid=11618

"Butterfield, 52, has been making ethanol stills for years.  In 1982 he won the California Department of Food and Agriculture's award for the best still design.  After many long years of work and investment, he believes he finally has developed an affordable, profitable, easy to use, and practical design.

He has partnered with Silicon Valley entrepreneur Thomas J. Quinn and together the pair started the E-Fuel Corporation.  Their new home-fuel ethanol system will be called the E-Fuel 100 MicroFueler.  It will be about the size of a washer-dryer stack and retail for $9,995.  Orders should start shipping by the end of 2008.  Tax credits could cut the cost in half approximately, for many consumers."

[06Hemiman]

Now that's a neat idea.  People like this should be rewarded for their ingenuity.  I could see a lot of farmers wanting a machine like this to make fuel from excess crops.

[raman noodles]

Interesting, I wonder if there are kits for doing this at home for diesel.  I'd love to go out and get some vegetable oil and convert it to diesel.

[06Hemiman]

Interesting, I wonder if there are kits for doing this at home for diesel.  I'd love to go out and get some vegetable oil and convert it to diesel.

I believe there are.  I know of some farmers that grow a few acres to get the vegetable oil out and run their tractors on it.  They have to press it though and the press costs a lot of $$.

[gman]

Interesting, I wonder if there are kits for doing this at home for diesel.  I'd love to go out and get some vegetable oil and convert it to diesel.

I believe there are.  I know of some farmers that grow a few acres to get the vegetable oil out and run their tractors on it.  They have to press it though and the press costs a lot of $$.

That's crazy, wouldn't they get more $$ out of the acreage by just planting it with corn and selling it?  I'm not buying that especially since they'd have to buy a 10k press to begin with.

[diesel game]

Interesting, I wonder if there are kits for doing this at home for diesel.  I'd love to go out and get some vegetable oil and convert it to diesel.

I believe there are.  I know of some farmers that grow a few acres to get the vegetable oil out and run their tractors on it.  They have to press it though and the press costs a lot of $$.

http://www.homebiodieselkits.com/

spendy start up costs but look promising.

[05ram]

http://www.dailytech.com/article.aspx?newsid=11618

"Butterfield, 52, has been making ethanol stills for years.  In 1982 he won the California Department of Food and Agriculture's award for the best still design.  After many long years of work and investment, he believes he finally has developed an affordable, profitable, easy to use, and practical design.

He has partnered with Silicon Valley entrepreneur Thomas J. Quinn and together the pair started the E-Fuel Corporation.  Their new home-fuel ethanol system will be called the E-Fuel 100 MicroFueler.  It will be about the size of a washer-dryer stack and retail for $9,995.  Orders should start shipping by the end of 2008.  Tax credits could cut the cost in half approximately, for many consumers."

Awesome, now I just need a flex fuel engine available in the 2500.  I'd be all over that with the way gas prices are going.

[no spoiler]

The 2500 has the ctd available.  You can do biodiesel in it which makes it flex fuel. 

[06Hemiman]

The 2500 has the ctd available.  You can do biodiesel in it which makes it flex fuel. 

I think he meant either a version of the hemi that can use e85 or the 4.7 in the 2500.

[flint]

Interesting but those are huge start up costs.  10k will buy you a swimming pool or 20 worth of gasoline.  Plus it might not be legal unless you find a way to pay tax on those gallons you make at home.

[dodger098]

Interesting but those are huge start up costs.  10k will buy you a swimming pool or 20 worth of gasoline.  Plus it might not be legal unless you find a way to pay tax on those gallons you make at home.

Add to that you have to buy the stuff to make ethanol and then you get worse mpgs on ethanol and you have yourself a situation that probably just barely breaks even. 

[markedman]

Interesting but those are huge start up costs.  10k will buy you a swimming pool or 20 worth of gasoline.  Plus it might not be legal unless you find a way to pay tax on those gallons you make at home.

Add to that you have to buy the stuff to make ethanol and then you get worse mpgs on ethanol and you have yourself a situation that probably just barely breaks even. 

I agree, if it wasn't so costly to get the stills it would be a worth while venture but since you have to buy the equipment and then buy the fuel and then make the fuel and then get worse mpgs on that fuel it seems like this is something that only a hobbiest wants to do.

[diesel game]

I agree, if it wasn't so costly to get the stills it would be a worth while venture but since you have to buy the equipment and then buy the fuel and then make the fuel and then get worse mpgs on that fuel it seems like this is something that only a hobbiest wants to do.

this is why diesel is the way to go.  We get just as good if not better mpg on biodiesel.  Ethanol is a sham, we shouldn't be using corn to make fuel, switchgrass if anything.

[no spoiler]

I agree, if it wasn't so costly to get the stills it would be a worth while venture but since you have to buy the equipment and then buy the fuel and then make the fuel and then get worse mpgs on that fuel it seems like this is something that only a hobbiest wants to do.

this is why diesel is the way to go.  We get just as good if not better mpg on biodiesel.  Ethanol is a sham, we shouldn't be using corn to make fuel, switchgrass if anything.

I haven't heard that.  BD contains less energy I thought.  Maybe you guys get close to the same mpg but not exactly the same.

[06Hemiman]

Ethanol contains less energy, I don't know about biodiesel.