Lmao! Great job on the project complete with results. Everything I can dig up on this subject suggests it can be made at home for like $1.75 a gallon. I did a lil research myself and find that this cost is using corn and yeast alone. Search bio fuels and you will see all commercial ethanol is produced this way. 26.1lbs of corn will yield 1 gallon of ethanol. I found a 50lb sack of "deer corn" at wal-mart for 4.25 which makes it 2.12 a gallon. Plus yeast would push $
Thank you, im glad u showed me how much im doing right in comparison to yours. Keep in mind all grass has Cellulose properties to create mesh for Cellulose ethanol (mow your lawn) use that lol. 4cups pure sugar-10gl mesh. Ferment for 2 weeks, have a mesh sitting each day. I use solar power for my electric burner so no fuel cost.
And i have a juicer to extracter to extract my own oil, so what makes this feasible is to make biofuel. Add your gallon of ethanol to 5 gallons of veg oil 4 cups of sod
Thank you, im glad u showed me how much im doing right in comparison to yours. Keep in mind all grass has Cellulose properties to create mesh for Cellulose ethanol (mow your lawn) use that lol. 4cups pure sugar-10gl mesh. Ferment for 2 weeks, have a mesh sitting each day. I use solar power for my electric burner so no fuel cost.
And i have a juicer to extracter to extract my own oil, so what makes this feasible is to make biofuel. Add your gallon of ethanol to 5 gallons of veg oil 4
Your math is for the most part, absolutely correct. BUT... keep in mind, you have done an experimental run. If you have a decent reflux still unit, only use plain sugar (no extra stuff required to make alky) and buy a fast turbo yeast you can easily get that cost per gallon made to around $3.00 And... and said earlier if you get a lot of free ag clippings, you could do a little bit better. Keep in mind, you might drink a small shot or two and that makes it all worth while. LOL
Well you gave us a very good summary at the end and considering the methods you used and admitting you are a total noob I'd say we all had a good time so thanks.
Think about 'if' you had 4-5 acres of land, and learned how to grow maybe 15-20 tons of food per acre, including sugar beet to make sugar, and all the other ingredients, and had a good still...then it would make sense, specially if you had a few hundred gallons ethanol per year for a little extra work.
Great videos! I agree with you in that it isn't cost effective under current economic rites and that it may be a viable solution to simple, long-term fuel storage. Of course, the distilled product also has other uses, too :) And as for a replacement for gasoline, that would only come into play if gas could not be procured, which is another reason to possess the knowledge. You did an excellent job dispelling a few myths and I appreciate your experiment no matter how small it was.
Great presentation. However, I think you should reevaluate your conclusion. Depnding on how much you are distilling at a time you would drop the cost per gal. Even if you were using your numbers. Try calculating by lets say 30 gals an hour or even a hundred ...which is possible. Your cost will go down.
Good experiment. I think some things could be better. Scaling up. With scale comes much. Take a look at David Blume's videos. It can get much better. If you use all the excesses. Just my thoughts. With a 6 in dia still comes a much faster run.
Hmm 7.5 minimum wage typically that is an employees gross wage and the employer cost is about 50% on top of that. So if you had hired someone or paid your self minimum wage it would be more like $11.20 per hour. Go to your local farmers market and get their waste fruits. A good still will produce the 10% your looking for. Remember Edison 3000 theories to get the bulb to work. I applaud your experiment but to use the results of a hokey set up for a fair evaluation is not fair to yourself.
Well, at least you know you can make alchohal thats over 100 proof if need be. Theres a million and one reasons why you should know how to know how to make it. Just like your blacksmithing venture. Sure you could go to walmart and buy what you need. But now you can say you dont have to!
@bullrider9977 this is part 5. had you watched parts 1-4, you would have seen & heard me say several times that I don't know what i'm doing and i don't know what im talking about. so thank you for reiterating my points
Interesting findings. Thanks for providing some real facts for the home hobbyists. I am sorry to hear. I was really excited about this after reading David Blume's book.
@Dave51262 not sure who david blume is, but from context I am going to go out on a limb and assume he is one of the charismatic "buy my book/plans and make your own fuel for free in your back yard!" guys? Thanks for the comment.
Things can get better :) Good experimenting. Yeast could possibly be cultured and reproduced on its own.
And raw materials, Cellulose (leaves, grass) starches, (more plants parts) and sugars, could all be from plants. There is a way for these to all be converted to sugars.
Homemade yeast, and "organic waste" could be all free. And developing low-maintanence, high volume distilling systems is very possible :)
@BasementBen Yeah you're right, there are cheaper ways to get your supplies than at the grocery, but but there is still going to be alot of effort in collection for a small yield. I see your point though, and if i ever get time i will go more in depth, to include gathering rubbish and/or leaves to try to distill.
I agree that there are cheaper ways to do it (like donuts, as you mention) that I did not attempt. However, the point I was trying to make in the video is that time is not free, and should be factored into the equation. If you spend 12 hrs per week making this stuff (even with all raw materials free), you are still losing money,. you could have spent those 12 hrs at a minimum wage job, paid for gasoline with the wage, and and made a profit after purchasing the gasoline.
I think it is the department of alcohol,tabaco and firearms is ware you get your permit from. my cousin has the permit, but doesn't use it because he thinks it is to much work to. I still am a fan of ethanol i just buy it from the gas station.
I am going to do a video on the storebought ethanol as well. It's not any cheaper, the difference is paid by you through taxes since crops for ethanol are paid through government subsidies.
I also was told that it was the AFT, but I couldn't find anything on their website about it. They would not respond to my emails inquiring about it. The Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) has an application for the permit, but I'm not going to say that their permit is all you need, because there may be local permit needed as well.
I think all the ATF cares about these days are guns.
i though the permit had allot of paper work and bs that you had to go through to get it anyway. my cousin has the permit but hasn't even made one gallon. i wanted to make some just for fun to see if i could. but the still i want is to much money,and then i still would have buy a molecular sieve to get it close to 200 proof. all of that seemed like a lot of work to set up just to try it ones. because even our number crunching proved it cheaper to buy from gas station. maybe try anyway someday.
No the permit paperwork isn't bad. 2 pages is all. They have made it alot easier since the gov't is trying to sell the whole ethanol thing. Your key word there is "buy". I think the guys touting the whole idea that distilling ethanol at home are trying to sell stills or still plans. (but I'm a shade pessimistic and untrusting of people)
Big still just make a 100 galoons still and a big wood fire, small stuff make small yields.
Brasilians make ethanol all the time.
TheIvomendonca 1 day ago
Lmao! Great job on the project complete with results. Everything I can dig up on this subject suggests it can be made at home for like $1.75 a gallon. I did a lil research myself and find that this cost is using corn and yeast alone. Search bio fuels and you will see all commercial ethanol is produced this way. 26.1lbs of corn will yield 1 gallon of ethanol. I found a 50lb sack of "deer corn" at wal-mart for 4.25 which makes it 2.12 a gallon. Plus yeast would push $
3.00. Which isn't bad consi
Allenmakestherules 1 month ago
Fantastic you just figured out the whole scam of ethanol in an most enteresting manner the goverment still hasnt figured it out
RGCbaseace 1 month ago
Add your gallon of ethanol to 5 gallons of veg oil 4 cups of sodium hydroxide
And you make out richer then an sob
Uneakdawg 2 months ago
This has been flagged as spam show
Thank you, im glad u showed me how much im doing right in comparison to yours. Keep in mind all grass has Cellulose properties to create mesh for Cellulose ethanol (mow your lawn) use that lol. 4cups pure sugar-10gl mesh. Ferment for 2 weeks, have a mesh sitting each day. I use solar power for my electric burner so no fuel cost.
And i have a juicer to extracter to extract my own oil, so what makes this feasible is to make biofuel. Add your gallon of ethanol to 5 gallons of veg oil 4 cups of sod
Uneakdawg 2 months ago
@uneakdawg
Thank you, im glad u showed me how much im doing right in comparison to yours. Keep in mind all grass has Cellulose properties to create mesh for Cellulose ethanol (mow your lawn) use that lol. 4cups pure sugar-10gl mesh. Ferment for 2 weeks, have a mesh sitting each day. I use solar power for my electric burner so no fuel cost.
And i have a juicer to extracter to extract my own oil, so what makes this feasible is to make biofuel. Add your gallon of ethanol to 5 gallons of veg oil 4
Uneakdawg 2 months ago
Your math is for the most part, absolutely correct. BUT... keep in mind, you have done an experimental run. If you have a decent reflux still unit, only use plain sugar (no extra stuff required to make alky) and buy a fast turbo yeast you can easily get that cost per gallon made to around $3.00 And... and said earlier if you get a lot of free ag clippings, you could do a little bit better. Keep in mind, you might drink a small shot or two and that makes it all worth while. LOL
penztoy 3 months ago
Well you gave us a very good summary at the end and considering the methods you used and admitting you are a total noob I'd say we all had a good time so thanks.
Think about 'if' you had 4-5 acres of land, and learned how to grow maybe 15-20 tons of food per acre, including sugar beet to make sugar, and all the other ingredients, and had a good still...then it would make sense, specially if you had a few hundred gallons ethanol per year for a little extra work.
Think about it that way?
BringBack500s 6 months ago
As of June 2011, the rack price of ethanol was $2.76 versus $2.97 for unleaded gasoline.
MrSchpankme 7 months ago
you're some redneck god! now how about you make some more blades? i mean.. one temper gone wrong and you just stop?
siggeller 9 months ago
what do you think about the Micro Fueler ? that company claims you can make your own ethanol at less than a $1 per gallon.
carthian1 11 months ago
dude thats a great deal (im from the future by the way) in 2 years gas will be twice as expensive as your ethanol there.
mrfurball 1 year ago
Great videos! I agree with you in that it isn't cost effective under current economic rites and that it may be a viable solution to simple, long-term fuel storage. Of course, the distilled product also has other uses, too :) And as for a replacement for gasoline, that would only come into play if gas could not be procured, which is another reason to possess the knowledge. You did an excellent job dispelling a few myths and I appreciate your experiment no matter how small it was.
brokor1 1 year ago
Great presentation. However, I think you should reevaluate your conclusion. Depnding on how much you are distilling at a time you would drop the cost per gal. Even if you were using your numbers. Try calculating by lets say 30 gals an hour or even a hundred ...which is possible. Your cost will go down.
siltorr1 1 year ago
could you drink that?
MrConner227 1 year ago
Good experiment. I think some things could be better. Scaling up. With scale comes much. Take a look at David Blume's videos. It can get much better. If you use all the excesses. Just my thoughts. With a 6 in dia still comes a much faster run.
Thanks for showing your results,
Windthot
pangavamanos 1 year ago
Hmm 7.5 minimum wage typically that is an employees gross wage and the employer cost is about 50% on top of that. So if you had hired someone or paid your self minimum wage it would be more like $11.20 per hour. Go to your local farmers market and get their waste fruits. A good still will produce the 10% your looking for. Remember Edison 3000 theories to get the bulb to work. I applaud your experiment but to use the results of a hokey set up for a fair evaluation is not fair to yourself.
Bkwilless 1 year ago
Well, at least you know you can make alchohal thats over 100 proof if need be. Theres a million and one reasons why you should know how to know how to make it. Just like your blacksmithing venture. Sure you could go to walmart and buy what you need. But now you can say you dont have to!
obeyance 1 year ago
your funny
edgarjesusrodriguez 1 year ago
you dont know what the hell you are talking about, you dont know shit about making mash either
bullrider9977 1 year ago
@bullrider9977 this is part 5. had you watched parts 1-4, you would have seen & heard me say several times that I don't know what i'm doing and i don't know what im talking about. so thank you for reiterating my points
strantor 1 year ago
what will a gallon of fuel be worth when there is none at that pumps? what youve learned is worth more than the seventy dollars. Good video series.
jwalk1014 1 year ago
@jwalk1014 thanks!
strantor 1 year ago
Interesting findings. Thanks for providing some real facts for the home hobbyists. I am sorry to hear. I was really excited about this after reading David Blume's book.
Dave51262 1 year ago
@Dave51262 not sure who david blume is, but from context I am going to go out on a limb and assume he is one of the charismatic "buy my book/plans and make your own fuel for free in your back yard!" guys? Thanks for the comment.
strantor 1 year ago
Great conclusion, you need a farm and some slaves. There is a reason why it's sad "the end of cheep abundant energy" ...
Snurre86 1 year ago
@Snurre86 haha, im not brave enough to touch that one!
strantor 1 year ago
Thanks for effort. Enjoyed your presentation80)
SteelBustingShooter 1 year ago
@SteelBustingShooter thanks!
strantor 1 year ago
Funny Stuff :) "paranoid about The End Of The World" to "Your Full of Shit"
Again Great Chart.
M1ST3RHYDE 1 year ago
@M1ST3RHYDE lol, thanks!
strantor 1 year ago
Good Job. Thanks for the Videos.
M1ST3RHYDE 1 year ago
@M1ST3RHYDE thanks!
strantor 1 year ago
Things can get better :) Good experimenting. Yeast could possibly be cultured and reproduced on its own.
And raw materials, Cellulose (leaves, grass) starches, (more plants parts) and sugars, could all be from plants. There is a way for these to all be converted to sugars.
Homemade yeast, and "organic waste" could be all free. And developing low-maintanence, high volume distilling systems is very possible :)
Keep it up, you got the right idea in my opinion!
Ben.
BasementBen 2 years ago
@BasementBen Yeah you're right, there are cheaper ways to get your supplies than at the grocery, but but there is still going to be alot of effort in collection for a small yield. I see your point though, and if i ever get time i will go more in depth, to include gathering rubbish and/or leaves to try to distill.
strantor 1 year ago
@strantor Plant sugar in your garden :)
TheIvomendonca 1 day ago
The only thing you really proved is your paying too much to make your version of Ethanol.
You can talk to a local donuts shop and get all the waste stale donuts FREE..
That is sugar and corn. Yeast you can get a couple OZ for $1 if you search around.
Run your still from Solar power and even the power is FREE. You can get your total costs down to $.20-.30 per gallon.
I would love you to try some other methods.
Have a great weekend,
-Pete
mixcatcom 2 years ago
I agree that there are cheaper ways to do it (like donuts, as you mention) that I did not attempt. However, the point I was trying to make in the video is that time is not free, and should be factored into the equation. If you spend 12 hrs per week making this stuff (even with all raw materials free), you are still losing money,. you could have spent those 12 hrs at a minimum wage job, paid for gasoline with the wage, and and made a profit after purchasing the gasoline.
strantor 2 years ago
Unless you chose to view it as a hobby, (which It's not very entertaining as a hobby) and totally write off the time factor.
strantor 2 years ago
Great project let's try some drinking alcohol now ; )
86mountainman 2 years ago
I think it is the department of alcohol,tabaco and firearms is ware you get your permit from. my cousin has the permit, but doesn't use it because he thinks it is to much work to. I still am a fan of ethanol i just buy it from the gas station.
switchgrassfuel 2 years ago
I am going to do a video on the storebought ethanol as well. It's not any cheaper, the difference is paid by you through taxes since crops for ethanol are paid through government subsidies.
strantor 2 years ago
I also was told that it was the AFT, but I couldn't find anything on their website about it. They would not respond to my emails inquiring about it. The Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) has an application for the permit, but I'm not going to say that their permit is all you need, because there may be local permit needed as well.
I think all the ATF cares about these days are guns.
strantor 2 years ago
i though the permit had allot of paper work and bs that you had to go through to get it anyway. my cousin has the permit but hasn't even made one gallon. i wanted to make some just for fun to see if i could. but the still i want is to much money,and then i still would have buy a molecular sieve to get it close to 200 proof. all of that seemed like a lot of work to set up just to try it ones. because even our number crunching proved it cheaper to buy from gas station. maybe try anyway someday.
switchgrassfuel 2 years ago
No the permit paperwork isn't bad. 2 pages is all. They have made it alot easier since the gov't is trying to sell the whole ethanol thing. Your key word there is "buy". I think the guys touting the whole idea that distilling ethanol at home are trying to sell stills or still plans. (but I'm a shade pessimistic and untrusting of people)
strantor 2 years ago
Bummer to hear its not a likely source of fuel but its good to hear you tested it and have solid evidence on it.
GreenFire7676 2 years ago