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Consumer Ethanol Appliance Promised By Year's End

Newscloud brings us news of a startup called E-Fuel promising to ship a home-brew ethanol plant, the size of a washer-dryer, for under $10,000 by the end of this year. We've had plenty of discussions about $1/gal. fuel — these guys want to let you make it at home. The company says it plans to develop a NAFTA-enabled distribution network for inedible sugar from Mexico at 1/8th the cost of trade-protected sugar, to use as raw material for making ethanol. A renewable energy expert from UC Berkeley is quoted: "There's a lot of hurdles you have to overcome. It's entirely possible that they've done it, but skepticism is a virtue."

8 of 365 comments (clear)

  1. A good reason to get rid of the alcohol taxes. by kidsizedcoffin · · Score: 4, Funny

    They already have consumer ethanol appliances, they go by other names: bread makers, home beer breweries, and the like. Won't help me much on getting around in my car, but I'll be too full and drunk to care.

  2. $1/gal fuel to perpetuate a cheap energy lifestyle by colourmyeyes · · Score: 2, Funny

    I would hate for there to be any incentive to change the current urban-sprawl mentality of a nation built on cheap energy. We need to continue to make things needlessly far apart, segregating housing and businesses in such a way that even when they are only a mile apart a car is required to travel between them. Just imagine all the ugly stores right next to houses and sidewalks all over the place that would have to spring up if we couldn't afford to drive our SUV's 3/4 of a mile for a gallon of milk.

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    My grandmother used anecdotal evidence all the time, and she lived to be 120 years old.
  3. Sugar as fuel? by l0ungeb0y · · Score: 3, Funny

    I am sure the International Ant Coalition will have something to say about this. It could get ugly folks.

  4. Re:Denatured alcohol by Rayban · · Score: 5, Funny

    Unfortunately, there was sin tax error on line 1.

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    æeee!
  5. Didn't you see the Family Guy episode? by FranTaylor · · Score: 3, Funny

    We Irish had an advanced civilization long ago based on this technology, but then we started drinking the damned stuff...

  6. Re:Stop turning food into fuel by kybred · · Score: 3, Funny

    A bottle of tequila will sit indefinitely in a glass bottle

    Not in my house!

  7. Re:And I thought there were a subsidies for this by khallow · · Score: 2, Funny

    Gasoline is not safe either. It burns too.

  8. Re:Taxation of dangerous products for welfare by Farmer+Tim · · Score: 3, Funny

    Some followers of Yaweh, will tell me that the yummy, healthy, normal sex I has last night is wrong and a sin.

    Wheras on Slashdot you'll be told it was imaginary.

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    Blank until /. makes another boneheaded UI decision.