For $10,000, you will never have to go to a gas station again.

[ObiDon]

Originally posted by: PingSpike

Originally posted by: Phokus

Originally posted by: CorCentral
Holy Crap, that's alot of fuel...... Would be for me anyway!
A MicroFueler can produce 35 gallons of ethanol every seven days, at a cost of about $1 per gallon. Any car can run on the fuel, Padula said.


Fun fact: Quinn's last entrepreneurial endeavor was Gyration Inc., responsible for the patent behind Nintendo's "Wiimote" controller.

That's kind of dissapointing, 35 gallons every 7 days? WTF?

Uh...what? That seems like it would be plenty for your average family to me.

the thing about that is... you're forgetting that this is the internet. everyone here drives hummers and vipers.

for me, 35 gallons a week would result in my having a huge stockpile of ethanol since i get about 30mpg from my daily driver 🙂

 

[Zenmervolt]

Originally posted by: PingSpike

Originally posted by: Phokus

Originally posted by: CorCentral
Holy Crap, that's alot of fuel...... Would be for me anyway!
A MicroFueler can produce 35 gallons of ethanol every seven days, at a cost of about $1 per gallon. Any car can run on the fuel, Padula said.


Fun fact: Quinn's last entrepreneurial endeavor was Gyration Inc., responsible for the patent behind Nintendo's "Wiimote" controller.

That's kind of dissapointing, 35 gallons every 7 days? WTF?

Uh...what? That seems like it would be plenty for your average family to me.

It depends. One of my cars has a 21 gallon tank and the other has an 18 gallon tank. Depending on commute and vehicle type, this would be right on the edge of usefulness for a two-car family.

EDIT: I don't use anywhere near a tank a week in either car, but it's not that rare for both to need a fill-up within a couple days of each other. That's where it can get frustrating. Still, I think it's a great idea and hopefully the price will come down in time.

ZV

 

[rh71]

Originally posted by: silverpig
Well at least someone is trying to do something.

Yup. And further developments could drive cost down. You never know.

 

[RbSX]

Originally posted by: bignateyk
it would take the average person like 10 years for this thing to pay for itself. By then the technology would be so obsolete noone would use it anymore anyway. Sounds like a waste of money.

Are you serious?

The price of gas is ~4 dollars a gallon, this will produce it at ~1 dollar per gallon with an initial investment of $10,000.. it would take 3300 gallons pumped and it creates 35 gallons per week, 95 weeks of constant use and it would pay for itself assuming that you use all 35 gallons every week.

Not bad if you ask me.

 

[HannibalX]

Watch the cost of sugar go though the roof.

 

[Rubycon]

Can cars run on pure ethanol without problems?

 

[fisheerman]

Originally posted by: spidey07
Ummm, the BATF will not take this likely. Having a moonshine still is against the law and they'll want their taxes.

That's what spirits/moonshine is - ethanol. But I guess on the plus side you won't run out of liquor.

Actually all you have to do is register it with the ATF here in VA.

You also have to have ample amount of buffer space depending on the size in case of EXPLOSION..

As for E85 fuel.it is 15% gas so you can't drink it from the pump.....hehehe.

 

[Zenmervolt]

Originally posted by: Rubycon
Can cars run on pure ethanol without problems?

While it can cause some issues with the rubber fittings in the fuel lines of older cars, there's no real functional reason it wouldn't work in any engine. At most it would require a re-flash of the car's ECU to re-calibrate the mixture control.

ZV

 

[fisheerman]

Originally posted by: Rubycon
Can cars run on pure ethanol without problems?

First production cars were produced to run ethanol(moonshine).

It runs a lot hotter but has a lower cold weather burn threshhold than regular gasoline. that's one of the reasons it is mixed.

Some cars have to be retrofitted to handle the octane boast (mostly blown manifolds/fuel injectors etc) It also wears out a lot of the standard rubber gaskets.


Can you tell I am somewhat a little red around the neck ........

 

[PingSpike]

Originally posted by: Zenmervolt

Originally posted by: PingSpike

Originally posted by: Phokus

Originally posted by: CorCentral
Holy Crap, that's alot of fuel...... Would be for me anyway!
A MicroFueler can produce 35 gallons of ethanol every seven days, at a cost of about $1 per gallon. Any car can run on the fuel, Padula said.


Fun fact: Quinn's last entrepreneurial endeavor was Gyration Inc., responsible for the patent behind Nintendo's "Wiimote" controller.

That's kind of dissapointing, 35 gallons every 7 days? WTF?

Uh...what? That seems like it would be plenty for your average family to me.

It depends. One of my cars has a 21 gallon tank and the other has an 18 gallon tank. Depending on commute and vehicle type, this would be right on the edge of usefulness for a two-car family.

EDIT: I don't use anywhere near a tank a week in either car, but it's not that rare for both to need a fill-up within a couple days of each other. That's where it can get frustrating. Still, I think it's a great idea and hopefully the price will come down in time.

ZV

I acknowledge its probably close for a couple mid sized SUVs both doing a decent ~20mile commute...but you can still fill it up with normal gas once a month to even things out right? Plus, it'll pay for itself a lot faster if you're using it to full capacity.

 

[Rubycon]

Originally posted by: Zenmervolt

While it can cause some issues with the rubber fittings in the fuel lines of older cars, there's no real functional reason it wouldn't work in any engine. At most it would require a re-flash of the car's ECU to re-calibrate the mixture control.

ZV

The rubber seal issue is exactly what I have been told and makes perfect sense. What if the ECU is programmed to run on moonshine and the person is taking a trip and has to fill with petrol? Will it run degraded?

I can see ECU's being modified like computers with dual bioses where the driver has an alc/gas switch to select fuel type before turning the key. :laugh:

 

[DnetMHZ]

Originally posted by: RyanSengara

Originally posted by: bignateyk
it would take the average person like 10 years for this thing to pay for itself. By then the technology would be so obsolete noone would use it anymore anyway. Sounds like a waste of money.

Are you serious?

The price of gas is ~4 dollars a gallon, this will produce it at ~1 dollar per gallon with an initial investment of $10,000.. it would take 3300 gallons pumped and it creates 35 gallons per week, 95 weeks of constant use and it would pay for itself assuming that you use all 35 gallons every week.

Not bad if you ask me.

You are forgetting that you get +/- 1/3rd less mileage on ethanol.
You can't compare gallon for gallon with gasoline.

 

[fisheerman]

Originally posted by: Rubycon

Originally posted by: Zenmervolt

While it can cause some issues with the rubber fittings in the fuel lines of older cars, there's no real functional reason it wouldn't work in any engine. At most it would require a re-flash of the car's ECU to re-calibrate the mixture control.

ZV

The rubber seal issue is exactly what I have been told and makes perfect sense. What if the ECU is programmed to run on moonshine and the person is taking a trip and has to fill with petrol? Will it run degraded?

I can see ECU's being modified like computers with dual bioses where the driver has an alc/gas switch to select fuel type before turning the key. :laugh:

Yes it could be an issue with the timing.(misfires etc)

 

[venkman]

Originally posted by: Pale Rider
Watch the cost of sugar go though the roof.

Price of Sugar goes up, Obesity rate goes down.

Win Win. 🙂

 

[PingSpike]

I'm actually surprised to see so many people crapping all over this. I think ethonal is largely BS...but thats because all the money for it gets funnelled into retarded corn based ethanol. This seems to use inedible sugars that avoid tarrifs that keep US sugar prices high.

I'm not saying whether this thing can deliver on its promises or not. I have my doubts, it does seem kind of impossible that I could make my own gas in my house...but I have my hopes as well. The fact is we have or could develop a lot of the technology to fix most of our energy problems, its just we're so used to our old ways and have so many players that stand to lose money from change its still easier to just continue doing it the old way.

 

[allisolm]

Originally posted by: RightIsWrong
For some reason, I don't think that I am going to be able to sneak that past the HOA.

I could probably hide the machine easier than I could the sugarcane crop. 🙂

 

[Gooberlx2]

I dunno....seems like an interesting idea. I'd like to see a popular science howto article on it so I could just make one myself (not that I would be technically/electronically skilled enough anyway, though).