Sunday, April 27, 2008

Brew-it-yourself fuel

A backyard ethanol still will be out by the end of the year, according to The New York Times. Fill 'er up honey.

"It’s going to cause havoc in the market and cause great financial stress in the oil industry," says Thomas J. Quinn, one of the partners in E-fuel Corporation.

Too good to be true?

I suspect it is, at least coming out of the gate. The E-Fuel 100 MicroFueler is expected to cost $9,995, use sugar as feedstock and run on electricity.

Don't forget the Revenuers at the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau. A still's a still. Get your permit and promise to do your cooking outdoors. I almost forgot, you've got to own land, so Northern Marianas Descent only locally.

And don't sample the merchandise.

3 comments:

Bruce A. Bateman said...

Most alternative fuels cost more to produce than gas costs to crack in a refinery so you would be unlikely to even recover the cost of your still using it as fuel.

With proper tippling management, and a good bourbon recipe however, you might not care.

Lil' Hammerhead said...

Actually several "Discovery Channel"-type shows have featured folks with garage ethanol distilleries. It is actually quite a simple setup. In fact, you could build one fairly easily. The leg-work comes in collecting whatever raw material you're going to use to produce the refined fuel.

KAP said...

My friend's big brother blew up a closet when I was a lad.

This might be safer for Popular Mechanics types. I don't think most people would go to the trouble but there's probably a market.

The "cost" in the article is probably for fuel and feedstock--people don't think of depreciation and what their time is worth on home projects.

Actually, if you have access to a bar, waste beer and booze would be ideal if your neighbors could handle the gawdawful smell.