P.S. In 2004, the USDA switched methods of giving energy credits for
by-products of ethanol production, nearly tripling the credit. Here's
why their old approach, relied on here, is right.
Ethanol is hugely controversial, so whose numbers can we trust? Both USDA
and DOE favor ethanol, so their numbers (USDA data ) should not
be biased against it. They prove ethanol is just too darn expensive.
Here's how ethanol replaces fossil energy:
A GG = a Gas-Gallon of Energy.
That's as much energy as is in 1 gallon of gasoline. Notice that these
quantities save exactly 1 GG of fossil-fuel energy (3.94 is 1 more
than 2.94).
That's why this unit is convenient. It's easier to figure that 3.94
gallons of gasoline has 3.94 GGs than to figure is has 3.94 x 124,071 =
492,780 Btu.
Here's how much extra it costs to replace 1 GG of fossil energy:
Cost of replacing 1 gallon of fossil energy with corn
energy.
(on July 29, 2005. Ethanol = $2.05/gal. Premium = $2.54/gal.)
$12.05 5.85 gallons of ethanol at retail price .
$2.98 5.85 gallons times federal subsidy of 51¢/gallon .
($0.75) state & federal excise tax bias against ethanol of
13¢/gallon .
$1.05 federal corn subsidy equivalent to 18¢/gallon .
$15.34 Total Cost of 5.85 gallons of ethanol.
($10.01) Savings from not buying 3.94 gallons of premium.
$5.33 Extra Cost of using ethanol to drive the same number of
miles.
Total Cost is $7.87: $5.33 is the extra cost of making 5.85
gallons of ethanol to save 1 GG of fossil energy. But, to find the
total cost, suppose a Martian handed us a gallon of non-fossil gasoline
for free. Then we could drive as far while saving a GG of energy
and we would spend $2.54 less (popNote ) at the gas pump, not $5.33 more.
So the ethanol approach is just like getting a GG of energy from
corn (instead of a Martian), and paying $7.87 instead of nothing.
Bottom line: If we buy enough ethanol (5.85) gallons to drive just as far
as we can on 3.94 gallons of gasoline, it will cost us (counting
all subsidies) $5.33 more than what we would have had to pay for the
gasoline. This is a very cautious estimate .
--------------------------------------------
Wow !!! How does corn oil work into the use of corn for ethanol ?? Is it
consumed in boiling the brew ? What if the brew was distilled with solor
heat in Arazona rather than burning fuel to heat the still and the mash
???
-dave
--
Best Regards /Mit freundlichen Gruessen,
dave ( at ) arb.net
http://arb.net
------------------------------------
http://running_on_alcohol.tripod.com/id36.html
Why make your own fuel? Because you can!
Drying the alcohol and blending it with gasoline
Mashing and fermentation is covered in other areas of this web site, and how to run
the still is covered in the 40 pages of instructions I send out with the Charles 803
still blueprints. So, the thing you need to know next for making E85 is that you will
need to remove the last 5 or 10% of water by a process called a molecular sieve. I
know this sounds technical, but it is pretty simple, and cheap, too. A sieve is a
strainer. The finer the screen, the finer the final product will be, as when you are
sifting flower to remove any clumps or large particles. You can buy Zeolyle, which is
a granulated product that will absorb water but not the slightly larger ethanol
molecules. You need to specify that you want to buy the 3 A size (3 angstrom), as
this is what you need for making 200 proof ethanol. Buy Type 3A in 10lb bags (looks
like a small pea gravel) it is only a couple of bucks and it works very well to
dehydrate the ethanol. We mix about 5 lbs in a 5 gallon can and let it sit with the
ethanol overnight and pour the dehydrated ethanol through a screen, into another can
the next day. To get the water out of the zeolite we just broil it on the backyard
grill - it is reusable indefinitely. Or, you can dry it in the sun by spreading it on
a tarp in the summer months.
http://www.thomasregister.com/olc/adcoa/molecula.htm
Finally, you measure that you do really have 200 proof with a hydrometer. If you
still have some water in your alcohol, it will separate out and settle to the bottom
when you mix it with gasoline. Also, you should strain your 200 proof through a fine
screen just to make sure you don’t have any zeolite particles that will clog up your
fuel filter.
Because of ATF regulations, you will need to add a little bit of gasoline to denature
any alcohol you have sitting around. Just 2 to 5% is enough to do the trick. This
way, if you ever do get a surprise visit from the ATF (since they know about your
still because of the Fuel distillation permit you took out), they can see right away
that you are making fuel, not drinking alcohol.
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