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Consumer Ethanol Appliance Promised By Year's End

Posted by kdawson on from the and-a-pony dept.

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."

9 of 365 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Less than $1 a gallon? Ha. by shbazjinkens · · Score: 3, Interesting

    After all, the sugar will suddenly have a much higher value in use as a fuel verses whatever they do with it now.
    Answer: In addition to ethanol production already underway, it's used as sweetfeed for horses, pigs and some other livestock.

    Count on other things to go up as well.
  2. you won't save on taxes in some states by Shivetya · · Score: 5, Interesting

    North Carolina will probably hunt you down and charge you with tax evasion. They did it in 2007 for a guy buying vegetable oil and converting it to biodiesel.

    hell they have been known to test fuel at events, to see if people are using fuel they don't like. They check NC registered trucks to make sure they don't buy fuel over the border.

    you think that they just won't slap a silly tax on the sugar?

    The one thing people keep ignoring as cars become more efficient are tax addicted governments are going to have to raise them to make up for the losses because of our efficiency and if we circumvent the whole tax strategy they have they will simply make a new one

    --
    * Winners compare their achievements to their goals, losers compare theirs to that of others.
  3. Stop turning food into fuel by rjamestaylor · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Not only is Ethanol shortsighted it is exactly the wrong direction for us to take. Ethanol is taken from food sources and results in local, regional and, as it increases in popularity, global increases in food prices as well as predictable food shortages.

    Besides the inefficiencies of transporting the raw materials, the finished product CANNOT be piped due to the inherent water in the ethanol rusting/corroding the pipes. So, the only means of transportation is truck, train or barge -- fossil fuel transportation systems.

    [!-- insert face-palm photo here --]

    Stupid, stupid, stupid.

    --
    -- @rjamestaylor on Ello
    1. Re:Stop turning food into fuel by littlerubberfeet · · Score: 5, Interesting

      Two points: I agree that ethanol is the wrong way to go. ANY distilled biofuel is a bad idea. We need to start differentiating between distillates like corn or sugar ethanol and refined products like biodiesel. Biodiesel is best made from non-food sources like switchgrass. Incidentally, many biodiesel materials stocks are not grown on food-producing farmland.

      Second point: Trains use (1/5) the fuel of trucks per ton-mile, barges (1/10) and the engines are far easier to convert to biodiesel. Each cylinder in a train engine is something like 2 liters, and there are 12 of them. The engines are tolerant of crap. In fact on EMD locomotives, one never changes the oil, just the oil filter. I agree though, that using fuel to move fuel is not good.

      The point of mentioning trains though, is that railroads have to pay HUGE property taxes on the one best solution to their pollution. The railroads would see their property taxes TRIPLE on electrification improvements. That, coupled with high capital costs means that railroads won't touch electrification.

      If they did electrify, rail transportation could potentially be carbon-neutral. They merely need to buy the power from a renewable source.

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    2. Re:Stop turning food into fuel by JazzyMusicMan · · Score: 3, Interesting

      And the fact that your country men are destroying the Amazon at a blazing pace for farmland while your government stands around mostly being inept makes you guys the poster child for the consequences attached to ethanol.

    3. Re:Stop turning food into fuel by TubeSteak · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Short-term problems like food rioting will more than be off-set by the stability that enhanced GDP's will bring to small, impoverished nations whose only exports are agricultural products. Wow.
      You really have no clue what you're talking about, do you?

      From Wikipedia:
      2004 top three producers: China 26%, India 20%, and Indonesia 9%.
      2004 top three exporters: Thailand 26%, Vietnam 15%, USA (11%)

      Those numbers haven't changed much between 2004 & 2006
      (the last year for which the UN has numbers available)

      Now, out of those 6 countries, only one has not banned rice exports.

      Which means the farmers who grow those crops have realized almost a DOUBLING of their incomes. This doesn't refute my point, it reinforces it. I ran across this while poking around:
      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2007-2008_world_food_price_crisis

      Unsurprisingly, there is a short paragraph that looks like it is agreeing with you. However, if you go to the source, they have this to say just 4 short paragraphs later:

      Effects vary, with farming households benefiting, and others losing out. Overall, the economy suffers and reduced consumer spending on other goods and services puts a brake on economic growth. I also found this to be a touch humorous: "Many low-income countries face the double shock of rising bills for oil and food imports, hindering growth and pushing up inflation."

      High food and oil prices leading to inflation and low economic growth.
      Gee... that sounds an awful lot like what the USA is going through.
      --
      [Fuck Beta]
      o0t!
    4. Re:Stop turning food into fuel by polar+red · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Ethanol would be good for Europe too I think Europe will move to electrical cars. (trains are allready electric - diesels can't go very fast) Windmills and solarcells are being put up by the thousands over here.
      --
      Yes, I'm left. You have a problem with that?
  4. Re:higher prices for everything by xaxa · · Score: 4, Interesting

    A shortage of bread eventually? I don't think you've been reading the news recently.

    how to solve global food crisis
    end of cheap cotton is near
    walmart restricts rice purchases
    government to examine effects of biofuels on food prices
    action to help poor with food prices

  5. For 10k one can convert to an electric car by Fireshadow · · Score: 3, Interesting

    The premise of the E-Fuel 100 MicroFueler is you pay 10K to have a pre-made still (for lack of a better word) to make ethanol. Then you take your home-brew and put it into your car. I'll let others poke holes in this approach.

    For $10,000 you can convert your gas powered car to be powered by electricity. "A typical conversion, if it is using all new parts, costs between $5,000 and $10,000 (not counting the cost of the donor vehicle or labor). The costs break down like this:

    • Batteries - $1,000 to $2,000
    • Motor - $1,000 to $2,000
    • Controller - $1,000 to $2,000
    • Adapter plate - $500 to $1,000
    • Other (motors, wiring, switches, etc.) - $500 to $1,000"
    The advantage here would be a form of daily transportation with zero-emissions, using a quiet motor that's cheaper to operate per mile (3).

    References

    1. 1)http://auto.howstuffworks.com/electric-car7.htm
    2. 2)http://www.electroauto.com/info/cost.shtml
    3. 3)http://www.ccds.charlotte.nc.us/~jarrett/EV/cost.php
    --
    "It's one thing to talk about the poetry of machines. Quite another to listen to it for yourself."