November 7, 2009
- Pasco, Washington
Making Ethanol At Home
By Chelsea Kopta
KENNEWICK -- "Pour the mash into the boiler, turn the heat up full blast," Ethanol distiller Josh Powell said, as he pointed out his distill.
Brewing fuel is like brewing whiskey. After all, ethanol is really just pure alcohol. "My grandfather in Kentucky made moonshine," Powell said. "I'm doing the same thing here but it's fuel." All you need is a distill, some ingredients in your cupboard, and time. Josh Powell's had a permit to cook ethanol for more than a year. "It's not hard at all," he said. "Once you've gone through it once or twice at most, you'll have it down pat." Josh starts with home-grown ingredients he calls mash: just sugar, water and yeast. And if sugar's not your style, you could replace it with corn. In its final form, an inexpensive batch of the sugary mixture will fill up your tank with one gallon of ethanol, at just $3 a pop. That might save you $15 a fill-up, saving you on week-to-week costs at the gas station. "Right, less money more work," Powell said. "There's always a trade-off." The tradeoff is the startup cost: the distill is a whopping $700. It'd take near 50 fill-ups to break even for that. And you have to ensure that your car takes ethanol. "I would say half the cars on the road can use ethanol and don't even know it," Powell said. He's right. There are makes and models of all different kinds: Ford, Isuzu, Mercedes to name a few. All you have to do if check your vehicle identification number with an ethanol-compatible website. Josh's own car is not ethanol compatible. And he doesn't have a permit to sell it. But he likes teaching others how to use it. "We're keeping things green and we're becoming fuel-independent and that to me is the most important part," he said. But is it worth it? "Yes, it's worth it to me?" If you want to learn how to make ethanol, Josh is giving a free demonstration this Saturday at 10 am. Email him at josh@fueldistillation.com Here's a link to Josh Powell's website: http://www.fueldistillation.com/ And a link to check if your car is ethanol-compatible: http://www.e85fuel.com/e85101/flexfuelvehicles.php |
Upload directly from your mobile device. Learn howYouNews
This content requires the latest Adobe Flash Player and a browser with JavaScript enabled.
Click here for a free download of the latest Adobe Flash Player.
|
Connect with KEPRMost Popular
|
Copyright © 2009
KEPR-TV, 2807 W. Lewis Street,
Pasco,
WA
99301
Copyright © 2008 Fisher Communications, Inc.
Powered by Broadcast Interactive Media.
