E85 isn't widely available in Georgia either. But if it does become more common, I will try some.

 

Chester,

I didn't tell you the best part yet. Read some of my other posts. I know that E85 isn't widely available. In Northen Illinois, a number of stations are now selling it; but, Big Oil is controlling the price for the most part. I have found a station selling it for $2.42 vs. $3.32 for 93 Octane. This is an easy decision; but, it get's much better depending upon the number of miles you put on your truck each year. I am over 35K so the following was an easy decision.

Start out with a set of blue prints to make a still, boiler, and fermentation vat. Cost about $70. Then submit your application for a alcohol producers permit. Then purchase the components necessary to assemble your own still. Cost about $700-$800. A little practice with a MAPP Torch (small Ace Hardware variety), solder, and a couple of weekends and you have now made your own still.

The result after you have made the boiler.... 40 bushels of corn will make 100 gallons of 200 proof alcohol. A bushel of corn costs $2.00. So now your at .80 per gallon. Mix 100 gallons of 200 proof alcohol with 20 gallons of 87 octane gas (remember this is 90% gas, 10% ethanol already) and you now have 105 Octane E85.

Your cost for E85 is now approx $1.18 per gallon considering 87 Octane at $3.10. Yes. we had to add some yeast and enzymes to the batch and yes this will add a few cents to the finished product so this is and estimate; but, you can easily see how this will save more than a few dollars each year. For my situation, it is well into the several thousand range.

The weekend after next, I expect to make my first batch. Then, I will stack up 10 fermentation vats feeding a fifty gallon boiler which is then run through the 5 gallon per hour still. My intent is to start with 50 gallons a week, increase that to 100 as we convert more of my family's vehicles and then who knows. The fact is... within a couple of months, I will depend upon Big Oil for only 10% to 15% of every gallon I put into my truck.

More importantly this is not your fathers "gasohol" as Mike Troyer continually calls it.

 

Awsome! And what's better, I have access to all the corn I want. It's cheap as dirt around here. Heck, I could even grow my own. If I could get several of our vehicles to run off it, it would really be worth it. Just on our farm we have 7 97-03 tritons. 7 X 25,000miles@15mpg = 11,000 gallons/year. If we saved but a dollar a gallon, it would equal $11,000!! That's enough to pay for the still, the corn, and then some.

And these are EXTREMELY conservative fuel use figures for our farm.

I really wish I could make my own biodiesel. We go through a couple thousand gallons of diesel per week, during certian times of the year.

 

My brother-in-law has a 250 acre farm and uses 33% biodiesel in all of his equipment. I have done some research on this; but, it is sketchy at best. ***** Nelson is big in this business.

 

Yeah, Bio ***** is hard to get around where I live, but I'd like to try a tanker load and see what it does... My school (UGA) uses biodiesel in it's buses. I'm not exactly sure where they get it from....

 

The economics of the ethanol sound great. Being able to run my truck off of corn grown on the farm would be great. The engineering department I am studying in has developed a mobile unit to make biodiesel. If I were to look into both of these technologies it would be possible to fuel all of the vehicles on the farm, from crops grown on the farm.

I just wish I had the money to start a project like this. Hopefully something like this is in my future.

 

I would like to do the same... But it takes money....

 

Maybe somebody will be interested in this "alternative fuels" locator.... http://afdcmap2.nrel.gov/locator/