The clear message at this years Fuel Ethanol Workshop in Madison, Wisconsin (June 2004) is that corn is the predominant crop for ethanol. It is quite economically advantageous: it is 72 to 74% starch, and the spent grain after fermentation and distilling can be fed wet or dry to cows and other livestock. Corn is quite available without causing a shortage in food supplies, since the protein content is a valuable end product earning more than the original corn. Even so, the total US corn crop could only supply about 20% of our gasoline needs, which are massive. However, if we switched to higher mileage models, we could meet perhaps meet 40% of out fuel needs with corn. The U.S. produced 1.4 billion gallons of ethanol in 1998, and over 3 billion gallons in 2003, 90% of which is made from corn. U.S. ethanol production has been growing 12 percent each year since 1980.

In Canada, barley is the predominant grain used for ethanol production. While the starch content is only 50% as opposed to 72% for corn, the price is 20% lower, and the resulting DDG has a higher protein content and therefore yields a higher price. Canada grows more barley and wheat than corn, so it makes sense to use this as a fuel source, just as Brazil uses sugar cane, since this is a major crop in Brazil.

OK, lets look at the basics of making your own E85 from corn. If you are buying it in 100 lb. sacks, you will be paying a rate probably 2 or 3 times higher than what the big distilleries are paying; size is everything. They pay anywhere from $2.30/bushel to $3.30/bushel. A bushel is 56 pounds. So this is a variation between $4.10 per 100 pounds (cwt) and $5.89 per 100 pounds.

Mashing and fermentation is covered in other areas of this web site, and how to run the still is covered in the 40 pages of instructions I send out with the Charles 803 still blueprints. So, the thing you need to know next for making E85 is that you will need to remove the last 5 or 10% of water by a process called a molecular sieve.

I know this sounds technical, but it is pretty simple, and cheap, too. A sieve is a strainer. The finer the screen, the finer the final product will be, as when you are sifting flower to remove any clumps or large particles. You can buy Zeolyle, which is a granulated product that will absorb water but not the slightly larger ethanol molecules. You need to specify that you want to buy the 3 A size (3 angstrom), as this is what you need for making 200 proof ethanol. Buy Type 3A in 10 lb. bags (looks like a small pea gravel) it is only a couple of bucks and it works very well to dehydrate the ethanol. We mix about 5 lbs in a 5 gallon can and let it sit with the ethanol overnight and pour the dehydrated ethanol through a screen, into another can the next day. To get the water out of the zeolite we just broil it on the backyard grill - it is reusable indefinitely. Or, you can dry it in the sun by spreading it on a tarp in the summer months.

Because of ATF regulations, you will need to add a little bit of gasoline to denature any alcohol you have sitting around. Just 2 to 5% is enough to do the trick. This way, if you ever do get a surprise visit from the ATF (since they know about your still because of the fuel distillation permit you took out), they can see right away that you are making fuel, not drinking alcohol.

Now, as for adding the gasoline to the ethanol to make E85, even if the car you are driving is listed an this website as an E85 flexible fuel vehicle, be sure to check your owners’ manual or with your dealer to make sure you got the model with the right computer chip that will handle E85. I suggest you just wait until you have exactly one half a tank of gasoline in your car, then fill up the rest of the way with the denatured 200 proof you made. This is because it may take a full tank of fuel for the car’s computer to fully adjust to the new fuel mix. In the summer you can measure and blend your fuel so you have exactly 85% ethanol and 15% gasoline, but in the winter, I suggest that you do not run greater than 50% ethanol so that you don’t have any problems starting your engine on cold mornings.