And with the awesome forms of transportation that these insightful environmentalists are proposing we are on our way.....same as the Chicoms...
Posted on 05/09/2008 8:35:13 AM PDT by 300magnum
NEW YORK (Reuters) - A new company hopes drivers will kick the oil habit by brewing ethanol at home that won't spike food prices.
E-Fuel Corp unveiled on Thursday the "MicroFueler" touting it as the world's first machine that allows homeowners to make their own ethanol and pump the brew directly into their cars.
The portable unit that sells for $10,000 resembles a gasoline station pump and nozzle -- minus the slot for a credit card, or the digital "SALE" numbers that whir ever faster at retail pumps as global demand pushes fuel prices to record levels.
Instead of tapping gasoline from an underground tank, the pump's back end plugs into home power and water supplies to make ethanol for as little as $1 a gallon (3.8 liters), according to E-Fuel.
The company says one of the machine's top selling points is its sweet tooth. It ferments fuel from sugar, the price of which is historically cheap as global supplies are glutted.
That means it avoids the Achilles heel of today's U.S. ethanol system -- reliance on corn -- which has been blamed for helping to spike global food prices.
"There's no mother in America crying that their kids aren't getting enough sugar," Tom Quinn, CEO and founder of E-Fuel said in an interview.
Regular table sugar alone is too expensive, so E-Fuels says it will link customers to cheaper surplus supplies, including inedible sugar from Mexico that sells at a fraction of the price. It also hopes to get users to help pay for feedstock by selling carbon credits for using the machine, since making ethanol from sugar emits fewer greenhouse gases than making it from corn.
"We will break the traditional ethanol system," said Quinn a California computer and computer games inventor, who has bankrolled the company with what he calls "millions, but not multimillion" of dollars.
He said despite the steep upfront costs, the machines will pay for themselves quickly. For a two-car family that drives about 34,500 miles a year, the MicroFueler will pay for itself in less than two years, assuming average gasoline prices of $3.60 per gallon, the company said. The unit makes up to 35 gallons (132 liters) of 100 percent ethanol per week.
Others are not so sure that the MicroFueler is a good investment.
"I doubt it will work," said David Pimental, a professor at Cornell University who has studied the economics of ethanol for decades. He said the history of the fuel has been one of moving to greater and greater scales to increase the efficiencies of making the fuel.
E-Fuel says the machine is efficient in a way that big ethanol plants aren't because it removes water from the fuel with special fine filters that reduce the fuel costs of distilling the water out.
(Reporting by Timothy Gardner, editing by Marguerita Choy)
With a claimed output of "up to" 35 gallons per week, this thing's not going to produce enough to be worth it. If you were in a 100-member congregation, your share would be less than half a gallon per week.
“I doubt it will work,” said David Pimental.”
I just went back and reread the article. Pimental is the guy who said that ethanol production is a net loss. A statement that has been disproved by the per acre efficiencies of our midwest farmers. I wouldn’t put stock in anything he says, and I wonder whose payroll he is really on.
Pure ethonol will destroy even a fuel flex engine.
Interesting in concept, but you’ll still need to hit the gas station at some point.
They need to figure out a way to make it from lawn clippings or the 100+ box-elder trees I cut down on my dad’s property in the last couple weeks.
Funny that you mentioned that.
My son in law has a ‘contraption’ (looks like a still and uses lye) which he makes fuel for his farm equipment from french fry grease. (Gets it for free)
Now the local fast food restaurants have shown him a sheet which he is supposed to sign out on.
Wonder why they want to keep such detailed records?
Kinda like Oregon, when they realized they were loosing revenue from fuel efficient vehicles, now they’re trying to monitor their mileage and ‘tax’ accordingly.
I am constantly amazed at the ways the government can come up with to make you pay your ‘fair share’!! LOL
Ping for later reading
“We could ...come up with a better National Energy plan in 30 minutes.”
Yes, and one aspect of that is everone doing what they are capable of right now. Compact fluorescent bulbs are cheap now and I figure that since I converted 10 years ago I have saved around $1500. I have just read “The Ravaging Tide” by Mike Tidwell, 2006, wherein he describes in detail how a few years previously he spent $7,500 to convert his way of life to low energy use. His goal was a 50% saving, but he achieved 90%. He also points out that in the early days of the California electric crisis, people in the state reduced their electric use by 11% before the state implemented any restrictions. If we all cut back our use by 10%, and Tidwell describes a number of low pain ways to do that, energy prices would improve significantly.
The BATF&E does not allow individuals to distill alcohol.
They are growing sugar beets in Montana and North Dakota.
I read some article where a guy got raked over the coals by the gov for not reporting that he made his own fuel. It’s on here somewhere.
There once was a young man named Max
Who avoided the gasoline tax
The reason you see
Was his Vespa burned pee
From his grandfather's herd of tame yaks.
EFUEL100Watch out for fines for using biofuel.
Fines for using biofuel
They got him for avoiding the fuel tax.
Home brewing isn’t not permitted to do home distilling.
And who’s still is going to blow up?
The ATF will come knocking.
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