Ethanol

5 gallons of apple wine?  I don’t think that’ll take you far.  Optimistically assuming you get 10% alcohol yield, that gives you 1/2 gallon of ethanol, which has to be removed from the rest of the juice, which requires heat or a vaccuum pump, both of which require energy input..  And I haven’t even addressed here the issue of simply picking and crushing the apples.  In a car that gets 50 mpg, we’re talking about one single 25-mile trip per year out of all this.  Get a pair of shoes and start marathon training.  You’ll make it 1.2 miles farther each race, and you’ll be happy to drink the apple wine at the end.

people are talking about the high cost of sugar, and the supply demand issue. but I have several fruit trees in my back yard, and I can make 5 gallons of apple wine for about $1.00 worth of yeast. it would probably work out well, if there was ever a fuel shortage. all of your neighbors would be stuck at home with no fuel to get to work, while you turn your fruit trees into all the fuel that you need.

So I would need a shipment of 470lbs of sugar and ?? lbs of yeast each week to fuel my car that used $35 gl/week? .   470lbs shipping cost for $35?   I don’t get it…  The math doesn’t add up even if the cost of sugar is $.02 

Maybe someone can do the math…. I can’t

Jeepers, if only this device could convert grass clippings and other herbaceous waste products into ethanol, it would be a bonanza…

But using processed sugar as a fuel is as environmentally and economically challenging as using corn.  What’s corn, after all, but unrefined corn syrup?

This doesn’t take into account, of course, the effect widespread distribution would have on commodity pricing.  If everyone puts one of these home stills into use, the price will skyrocket to the point where the only sensible thing to do with the ethanol is what I currently do:  Drink it.

it sounds not bad,so interesting

It’s important to note that sugar is a strongly protected trade import in the United States. The article claims the company is working on a NAFTA-inspired distribution network for cheaper Mexican sugar:

It takes up to 14 pounds, or 6.5 kilograms, of sugar to make a gallon of ethanol, and raw sugar sells in the United States for about 20 cents a pound, says Michael Salassi, a professor in the department of agricultural economics at Louisiana State University. But Quinn says that as of January this year, under the North American Free Trade Agreement, he can buy inedible sugar from Mexico for as little as 2.5 cents a pound, which puts the math in his favor. While this type of sugar has not been sold to consumers, E-Fuel says it is developing a distribution network for it.