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For a mere $10,000 any consumer can now make and pump their own ethanol at home.
A company called E-Fuel Corporation has introduced EFuel100 MicroFueler™ “the world’s first home ethanol system.” According to the company, the MicroFueler allows consumers to create ethanol with “sugar, yeast and water, and a standard household 110-220 AC power supply.” They claim that businesses, such as breweries, bars and restaurants can even use discarded alcohol beverages to create ethanol, for as little as $0.10 per gallon.
The home-brewed ethanol maker is the brain child of entrepreneur Tom Quinn and ethanol scientist Floyd Butterfield. They unveiled the machine at a press event Thursday in New York. Quinn says the device, which is about the size of a refrigerator, is so simple to use that anyone can do it. “You just open it like a washing machine and dump in your sugar, close the door and push one button,” he says. “A few days later, you’ve got ethanol.”
Quinn claims his invention will create a paradigm shift similar to the personal computer. “Just as the PC brought desktop computing to the home, E-Fuel will bring the filling station to the home.”
Besides the $10,000 to buy the Micro-Fueler, a consumer will also need a permit from the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms to make ethanol legally. In addition, the ethanol will have to be mixed with gasoline even for flex-fuel vehicles so the company recommends putting in a few gallons of regular gasoline and then topping off with the home-made brew.
The Micro-Fueler could also be eligible for federal tax credits that can bring the price down by about $3000 and the company is creating a distribution network for “ethanol-grade” sugar from Mexico that could cost as little as 3 cents a pound, compared to 20 cents for regular sugar. They claim the machine can make ethanol for as little as $1 a gallon and could pay for itself in less than two years.
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May 8th, 2008 at 11:22 pm
Yeah, this should work if you don’t mind waiting a week to fill your tank with the one or two gallons of ethanol it would produce in that time. It;s basically just a gimmick. Save yourself $9,700 and just buy a regular still column off ebay, a used 16 gallon beer keg, a cheap propane burner and a couple bags of “Turboyeast.” You too can do the same thing. That is if you can also get all the water out which is a whole other process in itself.
May 9th, 2008 at 8:16 am
[...] May 9, 2008 at 7:16 am · Filed under Uncategorized SWEET! [...]
May 9th, 2008 at 1:11 pm
Mark,
The company data says 35 gallons a week.
May 9th, 2008 at 3:30 pm
Sorry, in first looking at it it seems about like it would only make 1 or 2 gallons of ethanol a week. But, according to the company, the thing does make 35 gallons a week. It also has a specialized membrane style distiller that is more efficient the a regular fractionating column still (which cuts down on the electricity needed to distill the ethanol). I’m assuming they have also built in a way to “dry” the residual water out of the ethanol so won’t go into that. So, it may be worth a look. But, to make 35 gallons of ethanol one must still use about 700 lbs of sugar (if the ratio is the same as the commonly used “TurboYeast” which gives about 1 gallon of ethanol per 8 kilos of sugar mixed with 5 gallons of water).
I just don’t know that most people would really be willing to lug out 700 lbs of sugar each week (week after week) to fill their tank. It may be automated in every other respect, but does it sugar itself up as well. It’s cool that people can do this at home and this company deserves kudos for reminding people of their options, but I think in the end we all just want a solution we can buy at the pump. That will make a difference.
One other issue worth remembering is that ethanol doesn’t give the mileage that you get out of regular gasoline. So, the 35 gallons of ethanol this produced would likely offset about 25-28 gallons of regular gas.
May 11th, 2008 at 10:03 pm
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May 13th, 2008 at 12:47 pm
we need all info of how to produce ethanol/methanol from either suger , bananas or preferable pineapples in africa for farm use by local commercial farmers.any body that can help?