A New Twist for the Moonshiner: Ethanol

AP via Fox News ^ | 05/15/2006 | By Staff

[oxcart]

TULLAHOMA, Tenn. — The still — standard equipment of any moonshiner — has a shot at becoming the must-have accessory of penny-pinching motorists.

An upstart Tennessee business is marketing stills that can be set up as private distilleries making ethanol — 190 proof grain alcohol — out of fermented starchy crops such as corn, apples or sugar cane. The company claims the still's output can reduce fuel costs by nearly a third from the pump price of gasoline.

[oxcart]

The south returning to it's NASCAR roots.

[cinives]

I'm planting apple trees this year...

[SF Republican]

Had some great 'shine from Arkansas a few years back; the sheriff that brewed it used it to run the tractors; the stuff would take your breath away and chrome off of bumper.

[JamesP81]

I think it's humorous when the pols are on TV and they start talking about ethanol plants like they're some kind of a high-tech highly-sophisticated manufacturing apparatus.

They aren't. They're moonshine stills. Big ones. I've known and been related to some people that could teach these guys how to do it right.

[Colonel Kangaroo]

Tullahoma is not too far from the Jack Daniels site. Maybe more of that stuff can end up in Americans' gas tanks instead of their brain cells.

[mysterio]

I have respect for the rugged individualism of moonshiners. And now, they're helping us achieve energy independence, too! But they better not denature that stuff. LOL

[70times7]

It's car fuel... no it's a beverage... no it's both!

(it's a desert topping and a floor polish!)

[Politically Correct]

I have respect for the rugged individualism of moonshiners. And now, they're helping us achieve energy independence, too! But they better not denature that stuff. LOL

If you don't denature it (and in the process remove the remaining water) you're probably breaking some liqueur law.

[Zavien Doombringer]

LOL, that way, if you get stranded, you can always have a drink while you wait for the tow.

[oxcart]

Now who would do a thing like that? /sarc

[Dark Skies]

Here's the link (click on the pic)...

[ansel12]

We need to form NORAL.

National organization for reform of alcohol laws.

We should allow home stills for medicinal purposes.

Alcohol has an ancient tradition in both official, and home medical treatments.

[HEY4QDEMS]

Cool, I can drill a hole through the floor and run a straw from the tank to the drivers seat.

[Havok]

I cant wait to see teenagers in the future siphoning ethanol from cars to get drunk on.

[MainFrame65]

It's not as simple as just distillation. Ethanol forms a eutectic mixture with water at about 96%/4%, and cannot be distilled to a greater purity. That amount of water, when mixed with gasoline, can cause serious problems in IC engines. The distillate must be chemically treated to remove the remainder of the water before it can be used for fuel in an engine that is not specifically built for the task.

Also, An engine built to operate most efficiently with ethanol would need a higher compression ratio than one built for gasoline. This is determined in the engine design and not alterable during operation, so any engine that uses a variable mixture of the two is not optimized.

[fredhead]

"The American Petroleum Institute, which represents the oil industry, is all for putting ethanol into gasoline but questions the wisdom of doing it yourself."

Of course they do!!!!! That would cut into the profits!!!!

[bicyclerepair]

The cost of producing vegetable based fuel is so much higher than buying gas. We're not even close to the break even point yet.

[oxcart]

Thanks for the link!

[Sender]

This here's race gas, Jed.

[oxcart]

LOL, I new a drunk once and he would fill his windshield wiper reservoir with alcohol, run the sprayer lines to the drivers compartment and...he died years ago.