While making biodiesel or using vegetable oil as fuel in diesels is well known and well understood, most people don't really get the idea that you can just as easily (easier in fact) make ethanol fuel to use in place of regular gas.
E85 is simply 120 proof alcohol mixed with regular gas in the ratio of 85% ethanol to 15% gas. And ethanol is just any alcohol that you have run through a still to separate the water from the alcohol!
So the whole process comes down to making a regular supply of alcohol that you can distill, from fruit or home waste or pretty much anything organic. In essence mix fruit water sugar and yeast and leave covered in the warm with an easily available enzyme for about a week and you have the raw alcohol mash you need. But in fact there is a much much easier way that requires even less effort.
Every week in your town every bar and restaurant throws away gallons and gallons of waste alcohol. In the case of bars they generally refer to it as "slops" and in restaurants many bottles of beer and wine are left unfinished by clients and have to be thrown out.Disposing of this "waste" is where you and I come in. I provide 2 x 10 gallon jerry cans to three outlets in town who have agreed to provide me with their waste alcohol, all I have to do is collect every five days and leave them two more empty containers.
BUT here's the best bit. This "waste" already contains alcohol, all the fermentation has already been done for you! All you have to do is pour this straight into your still and within minutes hey - presto you have ethanol, good to go.
As it happens the numbers work out pretty well for me. My tank holds 10 gallons, I'm able to distill about 6 gallons a week using the above method and I just top my tank up with regular gas for a 60% saving!
So what are you waiting for?
All the best
Mike
P.S. want to learn more? Take a look at my full guide.
