I heard on the radio today about a company making a still to create pure ethanol from farm grown crops for use in motor vehicles. The radio program said that the cost for a gallon of ethanol using this method was about $0.75 a gallon, seventy five cents.
This is extremely attractive to me, but I know that it is not as simple as throwing some corn into a barrel, waiting a few hours, and gassing my car up whenever I need to. No, the startup cost for a simple operation, even for personal use, would be enormous. The stills must be a few thousand dollars, combined with the diligence of growing enough crops to feed that thing, and keeping the fuel flowing, you are looking at a full time operation to keep your vehicle gassed up with your own stuff all the time.
The benefits of producing this fuel are extremely attractive however. The cost, combined with not having to go to the pump, and a lot of other stuff. For example, if and individual could start their own operation and if that operation didn’t take 24/7 dedication, then I think it would be attractive to a lot of people, especially as the price of gasoline increases. This stuff is basic economics. If there is a suitable substitute at a lower price people will buy a lot of it. Gasoline vendors will be forced to compete. The possibilities are limitless and I am going to seriously consider it.