tazziboy7
- DIY
GRAY MATTER Make Your Own Ethanol
Ethanol is hot stuff in Washington: It replaces oil and originates in electoral districts. It's basically the same alcohol found in liquor (with gasoline added), and too much in either form seems to cause people to lose their judgment.
To make it, whether in home stills or factories, cornmeal is put in vats with water and enzymes that convert some of the corn to sugar. Yeast added to the "mash" converts the sugar to alcohol. In a few days, the alcohol concentration tops 10 percent and the yeast goes inactive, having, ironically, rendered its own environment toxic.
12.20.2008 at 11:17pm - Comment by tazziboy7#1)corn is old news #2)the use of fossil fuels #2A)answer NONE(maney ways to not have to use this) #3)cellulose does not have to mean acid (there are much better ways such as with enzymes) #4)transportation that use ethanol has been found to emmit around 90% less nox/co #5)fossil fuels thats the junk ethanol clens the garbage out of your engine universities (MIT and others)have proven this and achived(with internaly stock engine)15% better fuel efficiency others have built from oil pan and acgived better Efficiencys then deisel #6)gas is used to make the ethanol undrinkable (I personlly love to find out if Syrup of ipecac could be used)
Download Our iPhone App
Stay up to date on the latest news of the future of science and technology from your iPhone with full articles, images and offline viewing
Follow Us On Twitter
Featuring every article from the magazine and website, plus links from around the Web. Also see our PopSci DIY feed
Become a Fan On Facebook
Share links with friends, comment on stories and more
December 2009: Best of What's New
In our December issue, Popular Science names the 100 best innovations of the year: bombproof wallpaper, self-parking cars, the fastest helicopter, and 97 more. Plus inventor profiles and videos.
Check out the best of what's new here.
Popular Science Photo Pool
Popular on Popsci
Most Viewed
- IBM's Blue Gene Supercomputer Models a Cat's Entire Brain
- Mesmerizing, Isn't It?
- Intel Wants Brain Implants in Its Customers' Heads by 2020
- Batteryless Remote Control Pulls Power from Your Button Presses
- Video: The View From the Highest Man-Made Point on Earth
- New Reactor Uses Sunlight to Turn Water and Carbon Dioxide Into Fuel
- Google's Replacement for HTTP Protocol to Make Web Browsing Twice as Fast
- High-Pressure Diamond Anvil Creates a New Solid from Xenon and Hydrogen
- Amazing Aerial Photos from a Homemade Gas-Powered Paraglider
- The Dubai Airshow As Seen From Orbit
Most Commented
- Guess This Part, Win a Tool
- This Week in the Future, November 6-13, 2009
- This Week in the Future, November 16-20, 2009
- Intel Wants Brain Implants in Its Customers' Heads by 2020
- IBM's Blue Gene Supercomputer Models a Cat's Entire Brain
- This Week in the Future, November 23-26, 2009: Thanksgiving Special
- So Much For "Hopenhagen"
- CERN Successfully Brings Large Hadron Collider Back Online
- NASA Robotic Rocket Plane To Survey Martian Surface
- New Reactor Uses Sunlight to Turn Water and Carbon Dioxide Into Fuel
Most Emailed
- New Reactor Uses Sunlight to Turn Water and Carbon Dioxide Into Fuel
- Gallery: Hoover Dam Bridge
- World's First Osmotic Power Plant Goes Live in Norway
- High-Pressure Diamond Anvil Creates a New Solid from Xenon and Hydrogen
- President Obama Hopes to Jumpstart Science and Technology Education With New Initiative
- Mourning the Death of the Meta Media Experience
- The (Slightly) Poorer Man's Tesla: ECOS Harbinger
- Decoded Corn Genome Promises Higher Yields, Better Biofuels, New Plastics
- Everything You Need To Know About Chrome OS
- Roboticists Want to Make You an Electric Car Customized for Your Personal Commute
Today on PopSci.com
Copyright © 2009 Popular Science
A Bonnier Corporation Company. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without permission is prohibited.
