The evening times. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1906-1914, 1907-05-20
Alcohol As Fuel

James "A. Charter, IN The Orange
Judd Farmer: Very little has beer
written as to the possibilities or the
advantages of using alcohol for fuel
lighting and power purposes, es-
pecially for the farm. It appears t.
those who have made this subject i
study that the ideal place and the one
which should be first to adopt alcohol
as fuel would be on the farm.
First, because alcohol is, strictly
speaking, farm product. That Is,
alcohol Is produced from vegetables
and cereals raised from the soil. and
II arrangements could be made where
by there could be built small still,
conveniently located for a number of
farmers to take their product, these
then could be converted Into alcohol
at the convenience Of the farmers.
Another advantage which should not
be overlooked. is the fact that the
products which are not up to stand
ard will produce approximately the
same amount of alcohol as those of q
standard grade.
This alcohol could be denatured and
the farmer could receive back GER
tain amount OF liquid fuel In return
for a given tonnage of cereal and veg
etable product. In this way the farm
err would be going back to the old
method of taking grain to grist. He
would be accomplishing greater gain,
as in many cases the product taken
to the still would be almost valueless.
The cost Of this fuel could be placed
from nothing up to the market value
of the product from which it was
made.
Experiments which have been made
show that corn converted into alcohol
will produce approximately 40 to $50
gallons of commercial alcohol per
acre. Further experiments show that
about 166 gallons of commercial alco-
hol can be produced from an acre of
cornstalks; that is, assuming the yield
to be ten tons of stalks per acre, and
showing that there Is absolutely no
fermentable matter. The corn cob,
when converted into alcohol, gives q
return of approximately four gallons
per acre, making total average yield
of approximately 220 gallons per acre,
and showing that there is absolutely
no waste from an acre of corn when
converted into alcohol. II the alcohol
we're sold in the market for Is cents
a gallon, it would bring in a return of
$33 per acre, which is often more than
the corn would bring If originally sold
on the market. The yield from pota-
toes averages about 26O gallons for
each acre of potatoes SO. converted.
Other vegetables may also be con-
verted into alcohol at an equally fair
yield.
Next comes the important feature
of finding an economical means of
using this fuel. The internal combus-
ton engine, commonly known as a
gasoline engine, lends itself as being
the most advantageous and economi-
cal. 1t has gone by this name prin-
cipally by reason of gasoline having
been so generally used on account of
it's small cost, and being liquid fuel,
made it possible for the farmer to
have his own power engine in sizes
ranging from less than horse power
up to anything large enough to meet
his requirements.
Now, since alcohol may, on the
above outlined plan, be produced, so
to speak, on the ground where it is
to be used, it certainly must become
the most attractive liquid fuel, and
more especially so since gasoline has
become so generally used throughout
the country, and on that account the
price has been gradually forced up
until now it has reached point where
alcohol becomes a very formidable
rival.
1t, of course, will take some time
for the arranging and building of
these stills in outlying districts. The
farmer will not be able to get imme-
diate relief and make his own alcohol
at once, but without question much
of the fuel which at the present time
is gasoline will be displaced by alco-
hol. The farmer is the one who is in
the better position to bring about this
change. In the meantime, should the
farmer decide to install power, it
would be we'll to bear in mind that
the gas engine builder has already
anticipated the possibilities as above
outlined and there are already adver-
tised engines which are fitted up for
using alcohol.
From this 1t will be seen that the
idea can be readily carried out; that
is, to plan for the future use of alco-
hol. When selecting an engine, get
one that can use the present available
fuel and without delay or expense be
Immediately converted to use alcohol.
This will then give the farmer the
choice between the two fuels, and the
local conditions will establish which
fuel will be the most profitable to use.
The use of alcohol on the above
outlined plan would make the farmer
and the small dealer independent of
trusts, as the farmer could operate
these distilleries himself What fuel
he could not use for his own work
could be readily sold in the town for
various purposes, such as heating,
lighting, etc.
Aside from running engines, in this
way, the expense of operating the dis
tillery would be greatly reduced, and
the farmer who was directly interested
or who owned share, would be bene-
fitted by the sale of the surplus, which
would, in many cases, more than cover
the operating expense of the entire
distilling plant.
AS to experiments which have been
carried out for number of years,
and actual work in the field, which at
the present time is principally in Ger
many, Cuba and South America, it has
been demonstrated that this fuel pos
sesses many advantages over gasoline,
as, for example, it does not evaporate
as readily as gasoline, nor does it
present the possibility of forming gas
in closed room, which If ignited
would be dangerous. Its action in the
engine, when the engine is built with
a view to using alcohol, is satisfac-
tory. In fact, 1t might be stated that
an engine using alcohol will give out
somewhat more power than when 1t
is being operated with gasoline.