Word: ethanol
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Gasohol is 10 per cent ethanol, an alcohol which can be distilled from such materials as grain and wood pulp, and 90 per cent unleaded gasoline. The blend has a slightly higher octane rating than regular unleaded gasoline...
Modifying an engine to run on ethanol requires only simple carburetor adjustments. One recent convert is Manhattan cabby William Bly, who last month logged more than 1,000 miles on alcohol from a still built by The Mother Earth News, a North Carolina counterculture magazine. Says he: "The car ran beautifully-no knocks, no stalls, no nothing...
...make at least 180-proof ethanol, which is strong enough to power a typical car motor, a home brewer needs only to throw some vegetable matter such as corn, potato peels, even rotten garbage, into a vat. He then adds a couple of commonly available brewer's enzymes (to speed up the conversion of starch into sugar) and some baker's yeast (to bring about the fermentation). After fermentation is complete, which takes less than a week, the mess is dumped into a still, where the alcohol is boiled off. Basically just moon shiner's gear...
...federal permit is needed to run a still, but the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms issues one routinely when the applicant posts a bond promising not to sell or drink the alcohol. Automakers approve of ethanol power, but caution that it does present some problems. Though it has a higher octane level than even high-test gas, ethanol contains somewhat less overall energy to the gallon, and the mileage it yields is up to 20% less...
Washington is sensibly encouraging the use of ethanol in spite of its modest technical problems as a replacement for gasoline. The Administration has already budgeted $11 million in loan guarantees for stills, and the Senate has approved a bill that would increase the funding to a full $500 million...